


Incubus

by Zethsaire



Category: Gundam Wing, Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Dubious Consent, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Incubus!Duo, M/M, Multi, Mythological AU, Other, Shapeshifter!Trowa, Vampire!Heero
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 03:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zethsaire/pseuds/Zethsaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo Maxwell is an incubus. Trowa Barton is a shapeshifter. Heero Yuy is the vampire they're going to capture. What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incubus

**Author's Note:**

> The first six chapters of my fic 'Incubus' from FF.net. I will finish it. Someday. I just have massive writer's block with this fic right now. The first six chapters _can_ stand on their own, so there's no reason you can't enjoy this fic just as it is.
> 
> Yes, this is a GW/Weiss Kruez Crossover. Schwartz is just so useful for overpowered psychic badasses. :3
> 
> Trigger warnings: Since Duo, the main character in this fic, is an incubus, he accomplishes a lot of things through persuading people to have sex with him. There's several dubious consent scenes. If this is a trigger for you read carefully!!

**Incubus**

“So, do I look like vampire bait?” Duo Maxwell turned to face his friend and sometimes lover Trowa Barton, who was sitting on a couch in front of the dressing room. He was halfheartedly reading a magazine, but he looked extremely bored.

Trowa shrugged. “You look like a slut.”

“But would you _fuck_ me?” Duo insisted.

Trowa sighed. He looked at Duo, and gave him a once over. Duo had picked out a skin tight red shirt tucked into very low slung leather pants that fit him like a second skin. He had a black leather jacket thrown over his shoulder, and a smirk on his face. 

“Yes.”

“Awesome.” Duo grinned. “Then there's no waaaay a vampire could turn this down.” He bent his head to the side to expose his long, slender neck. He usually wore silver, but since he was trying to entice vampires, he wore a simple golden chain that flashed and drew the eye straight to his neck.

“You might want to hide your tail though.” Trowa said, staring pointedly at the long black tail that was currently swishing around near Duo's ankles.

“Oh yeah...” Duo said. “That's gonna be a problem. Where am I gonna hide it in these pants? Can't you just come along and keep everyone from seeing it?”

“Why would I go? I don't want to catch a vampire.”

“C'mon. It'll be fun! They'll think that they're making _me_ into a mindless vampire slave, and instead, _I'll_ get a sexy vampire slave.”

Trowa snorted. “Fine. I'll go. But I'm not dressing like that.”

“You're sexy enough just like that.” Duo motioned to Trowa's slimming black turtleneck and form fitting designer jeans. “Even having your neck covered is sexy – makes em want it more.”

Trowa put the magazine down and stood up. “Let's go.”

“We're not going to pay for this stuff?” Duo asked innocently. 

“The sun is setting. Do you want to be late?” Trowa asked, walking with Duo as they left the store. He waved at the cashier as got up to the counter, and she smiled vacantly. She walked around the counter and removed all the security devices from Duo's clothes before wishing them a good day.

“Damn. Did I ever mention I fuckin' _love_ your magic? And the fact that it works on electronics too?”

“Not that it matters. Security cameras just don't seem to see anything when you're around.” Trowa retorted. “I'm lucky our car runs.”

“You're just jealous of my sexy demon mojo.” Duo grinned.

“Uh-huh.” Trowa kept his mouth shut on the way to the rental car. He slid into the driver's seat; despite Duo's protests, Trowa was always the one who drove. He didn't trust Duo's demonic magic not to fuck things up and get them killed when in a motorized vehicle of any kind, especially a car.

“So, do you actually know where we're going?” He asked. Duo was humming to himself, his tail twitching along in time with the music. He had a disturbing grin on his face.

“What? Oh yeah. Way out on Howling Ridge Road, there's a castle. That's where the vampires live. But they're having the party at a convention center downtown, for some reason. It'll be way easier to take a vampire from a convention center instead of their lair.”

“A convention center, really?”

“Yep. They're trying to modernize, apparently.” Duo grinned.

“So...why are you doing this again?” Trowa asked.

“Do you see an abundance of cash in this relationship?” Duo replied, gesturing to the car, their clothes, and the two worn bags of gear in the back seat. “Everything we have is either second-hand or stolen. Not that I don't appreciate your power Trowa, but I'd like to make some real money. And in our line of work that means we need a real fighter. I'm not much more useful then a human unless I can sex something to death, and your magic doesn't work on the really powerful stuff. You know, the stuff we'd actually get paid to kill?”

“And you think a vampire is going to help us kill demons?”

“Um...yeah. Vampires are natural killers. And they hate demons. So all we gotta do is get a vampire to do what we want. My brother has a vampire, and he makes good money.”

“Your _brother_ is a shit head. And he also has a fire demon. You want to get a fire demon next?”

“No way. I hate fire.” Duo shivered. In his experience, fire meant only death. He had no idea why his brother thought having a fire demon was a good thing.

“Me too.” Trowa agreed. “So, we get in, which should be no problem unless they have some seriously high level demon security. _You're welcome_ by the way. Then you pick out a particularly nasty looking vampire, let him seduce you, and then when he bites you, you work your 'sexy demon mojo,' and he's yours.”

“Yep! That's pretty much the plan.”

“Sounds like something is going to go horribly wrong.”

**xxx**

“I feel ridiculous.” Heero muttered, fiddling with the collar on his white button up shirt for the tenth time. “I don't like this modern clothing. It's confining. It's _starched_. How does anyone move in this stuff?”

“You look handsome.” His second-in-command, Nagi Naoe, straightened Heero's tie and adjusted his suit jacket.

“I don't want to look handsome. I want to look menacing.” Heero said.

“Not for tonight you don't. You're only allowed to have a human slave if they enter into the contract willingly. And if you look scary, you'll frighten the mortals away.” Naoe said reasonably.

Heero sighed. “I know that the Council is trying to modernize us, and integrate the magical world into the mortal world peacefully, but sometimes I miss the old days. Before you were made, we could just ride into a village and take whatever mortal struck our eye.”

“Yes, and before I was made you used to get burned alive, or dragged out into the sun, or staked, or hunted by priests. But as a civilized creature, you get to be part of society and not be hunted, but accepted. I think you even have fan girls.”

“You take this all in stride.”

“I'm sure when I'm six hundred years old, I'll have trouble adjusting as well.” Naoe agreed. “But since I was born less then a hundred years ago...everything still seems new and fresh to me. I like computers, and I'm really good with them. And I _really_ like the way that humans line up to get bitten and fucked by us at clubs. Did that happen in the olden days?”

“No.”

“So there are advantages.” Naoe led his master out of the dressing room and into hotel hallway, where they headed towards an elevator that would take them to the ballroom. It would be filled with humans and hungry vampires looking for a permanent mortal servant. Well, as permanent as mortals could be, anyways. The Council had sent bodyguards to make sure nothing got out of hand, but without the head of the clan in attendance, the other vampires would be restless at best.

“As long as none of them ask me why I don't sparkle.” Heero agreed. It had to be a pop culture thing. Everywhere he went openly as a vampire, people asked him that.

“I'll try to keep them away from you, sire.” Naoe said.

“Thank you, Nagi.”

Naoe blushed. “You shouldn't call me that in public, sire.”

Heero pushed the button on the elevator, and it took them down towards the ballroom. “I won't, Naoe.”

The elevator opened, and the two vampires walked out. The ballroom was full of people and vampires, the chandeliers adjusted so they gave off a warm light; not so blinding that the vampires would feel uncomfortable, but not dark enough for the humans to feel threatened. The light was inviting, and many humans were already giggling over champagne and even dancing with the vampires.

“Damn.” Heero said. The room _pulsed_ with life energy from the two-hundred some odd humans laughing, flirting and dancing around the ballroom. “How am I supposed to control myself again?”

Naoe snickered. “You'll manage. I'll watch the suite for you. When you find someone, just bring them back and I'll make sure you aren't disturbed.”

“You sure you don't want to...mingle?” Heero asked. 

“I'm fine. I'd rather fuck them and then leave, honestly. I don't want them following me around all the time.” Naoe said, a trace of...something in his voice.

“It wouldn't have anything to do with them not measuring up to a certain red-headed someone, would it?”

Naoe scowled. “Don't you have humans to seduce?”

“Fine, fine. I'll see you later.” Heero said, and headed out onto the dance floor.

**xxx**

“You're _sure_ they can't see my tail?” Duo hissed, as he and Trowa walked into the ornate ballroom.

Trowa was too busy concentrating on keeping their illusion up to be annoyed with Duo. There were a _lot_ of people in this room. Keeping all of them from seeing Duo's tail was more difficult then he'd expected. And then he had to keep those same people from noticing that he was using magic. He suspected he was going to have a hell of a headache later. 

“I'm sure. But their _hearing_ is just fine. So be quiet. You see a vampire you like yet?”

“Uh...dude, we've been here for like...ten minutes.” Duo looked at Trowa's serious face and said, “That means no, I haven't picked one yet.”

“Hurry up. I can't keep this up all night.”

Duo honestly seemed concerned. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Trowa glared at him. “Shut up and just pick one.”

“Alright, alright.” Duo scanned the crowd. “I dunno...none of them have the right _energy_ you know? My brother said when he found his vampire he just knew. I don't see anything like tha- Hey, who's that?”

Duo gestured to a vampire who just entered the room. He wasn't all that tall, just barely taller then Trowa, but he was slim, with a wiry muscular build and thick brown hair that hung down over deep, piercing blue eyes. He was powerful; much more powerful then any other vampire in the room. He glanced over the room, and Trowa instantly felt the strain on his illusion increase tenfold. 

“Fuck.” Trowa clutched his head reflexively. This was such a stupid idea.

“He's the one.” Duo breathed. “There's power coming off him in waves. Can you feel it?”

“...yeah. I can feel it. And you're an idiot. That _has_ to be the Master vampire around here. There's no one else near his level.”

“I dunno, that kid next to him is pretty strong too.”

“Probably his second. This is the stupidest idea you've _ever_ had. Go get him so we can go. I'm gonna go...get something to drink.”

“It'll be easier if you come along.” Duo said.

“What? I don't want to watch.”

“C'mon Trowa...” Duo reached out and caressed the side of Trowa's face. Trowa felt his magic through the touch, encouraging him. Turning him on.

“Stop that.” He snapped. “You don't have to do that to get me to help you, you know? Fine. You go introduce yourself to the Master, and I'm gonna get a drink. I'll be over in a second.”

“Alright. I'll go get my sexy mojo on.” Duo grinned. His tail swished happily and Trowa felt a lurch as his power struggled to keep it hidden.

“And keep your tail still, dammit.”

“Sorry.” He didn't look sorry. Duo put a sway in his walk, and headed straight towards the vampire, practically radiating lust.

Trowa headed to the table where the drinks were. He was hoping there was liquor for the humans, and wasn't disappointed. He downed three glasses of champagne in quick secession, and had to forcibly shove off offers from five different vampires, all trying to catch his attention. Duo had been right; the fact that his neck was covered only seemed to make them more desperate. 

Duo seemed to be making progress. He had one hand on the vampire's arm, and another stroking his cheek, like he'd been doing to Trowa moments before. Duo's magic was powerful, if the creature he was using it on was susceptible. And it looked like the vampire wanted Duo, bad. His fangs were out and he had a hand on Duo's waist, his thumb tucked into Duo's pants. Trowa fought back the urge to growl. He knew in order to bind the vampire to him, Duo would probably have to sleep with him. But that didn't mean Trowa had to like it.

_**Fucking incubus.**_ He snarled to himself and crossed the room. He did _not_ want to watch Duo do that bloodsucker, but he didn't have a choice. If the vampire sensed Duo's magic before the bond was complete, he'd probably kill Duo. And Trowa couldn't let that happen.

“So,” the vampire was saying, in a disgustingly lust-filled voice, “Do you want to go upstairs?”

“I'm not sure...I don't know if I'm really ready to make a permanent commitment, you know?” Duo said. He was deliberately tilting his head to the side, displaying his neck. To a vampire, it had to be a irresistible turn-on.

“You know...” the vampire said huskily, using his grip on Duo's pants to pull Duo closer to him, “You don't have to make a permanent contract with me. We can...try it out first.”

Duo giggled. “You want a taste test?”

The vampire grinned in a feral smile. “Something like that.”

“Not going to introduce me to your...friend?” Trowa asked, coming up to stand behind Duo. 

Duo turned, using the fast movement to drape an arm around the vampire's shoulders. “Trowa, this is Heero. He was just asking me to come look at his room. Apparently the suite is very luxurious. I've never been to a high class hotel suite before.” Duo practically purred.

“Who's this?” Heero asked, and Trowa could detect jealousy in his tone. Apparently the sexual tension between Duo and Trowa wasn't lost on him.

“My...friend.” Duo said. “You don't mind if he watches, do you? Trowa doesn't trust vampires. He wouldn't want to leave me alone with one.”

Trowa was disturbed by how turned on the vampire looked at the prospect of having two good looking humans in his room. Heero probably thought that he was going to get to have them both, but Trowa would slit his own throat before he'd climb in bed with a vampire, even if Duo begged him to do it. Still...if the thought got the vampire upstairs and alone, they would be out of here that much quicker. And the strain on his magic would be less without everyone staring at them.

“You know, I've never been in a fancy hotel suite either.” He admitted.

“Well then...why don't I show you mine?” Heero practically dragged Duo towards the elevator. Trowa followed at a distance. He could feel Duo's magic now, and Heero was completely ensnared. Duo had his fingers in Heero's hair, and kept whispering things into the vampire's ear that made him blush. Trowa didn't even know vampires _could_ blush.

The elevator felt crowded, even with just the three of them. Duo was pressed up against Heero now, and had unbuttoned his shirt, loosened his tie, and had a hand down Heero's pants. Trowa had watched Duo seduce people hundreds of times – for money, information, or sometimes just because he couldn't keep his hands off other living beings. He hated watching it every time. Sometimes he didn't even know why he watched, or why he stayed with Duo at all. He just...couldn't seem to leave him.

Duo pulled Heero out of the elevator. “Where's that fancy hotel suite you were talking about?” He had a hand on Heero's ass now, and his face was flushed with excitement. Duo _liked_ seducing people. He couldn't help it, he was an incubus. Sex was basically what Duo _was._ It still made Trowa's blood boil to see Duo's hands all over a fucking vampire like that. Even worse, he was encouraging the vampire to put his hands all over Duo, too.

They finally arrived at Heero's suite, where the small Asian teen was waiting for his master. Trowa flinched away from those piercing gray eyes, feeling the drain on his magic again as it strained to keep the two vampires from seeing who they really were. He tried to look entranced, but he had no idea how well it worked.

“I see you found some humans to play with, master.” The teen said formally.

“It's nothing serious.” Heero said. “There's no law saying I can't try them out first, is there?”

“No.” The teen's lips twitched up into a smile. “As long as they're both consenting.”

“Hell yes, I consent.” Duo said, squeezing Heero's ass.

“I-it's fine with me.” Trowa said through gritted teeth.

“Alright then.” Naoe said, and opened the door to the suite. “Have fun, master.”

Duo raised his hand from Heero's ass and threaded it through Heero's hair. Trowa felt his magic surge through the vampire, and Heero said, “You should go enjoy the party Naoe.”

“Master...”

“You don't have to find a permanent partner. I didn't. Just _go_ and have fun.”

“But sir-”

“Don't make me give you an order, Naoe. I'll be fine. It would be good if you could go downstairs and keep everyone in line while I'm...occupied.” Heero insisted.

Naoe glared at them suspiciously, and Trowa felt his illusion waver for a split second before he forced it back up. The other teen didn't seem to notice though. He sighed, and said, “Alright. I'll go. Have fun.”

“Oh, he will.” Duo said, flashing Heero a predatory smile.

They went into the suite, which was, as far as Trowa could tell in the gloom, very nice. Duo shoved Heero towards the bedroom with a slap on the ass and a command to have less clothes on when he came in. Then Duo turned and studied Trowa for a few moments, before launching himself at Trowa, wrapping his arms around Trowa's neck, and giving him a passionate kiss. Trowa was shocked at first, expecting the familiar wash of Duo's magic that was always there when Duo touched him, but Duo held it back.

“Wha-” Trowa tried to talk, but Duo grabbed his head and kept him pressed firmly against his mouth. He coaxed Trowa to open up with his tongue, and then violently fucked Trowa's mouth with his own. When Duo finally let him go, Trowa was gasping for breath.

“What the hell was that?”

“I'm sorry.” Duo said. “I just...I know you don't want me to do this. But I have to. I wanted to taste you, not him. And I wanted you to know it was me, not my magic. I'm sorry. I'm shitty with words. I know...this.” He traced Trowa's lips with his finger.

“It's alright. I understand.” Trowa said. “Just go. Get it done.”

“I lo-”

Trowa put a hand to Duo's lips. “Just go.”

**xxx**

Duo left Trowa in the sitting room, nursing a headache and still reeling from the kiss Duo had given him. He didn't mean to string Trowa along, it just happened sometimes. He talked and talked and talked, but none of his words meant anything. The only way he could really communicate was through sex, and now he was going to go fuck a stranger. He'd be lucky if Trowa ever spoke to him again.

He forcibly shoved those thoughts out of his mind. He had to get Heero into a bond with him, and he had to do it before Trowa's magic ran out or that other vampire kid came back. He took a deep breath and focused, feeling his magic coursing through the vampire in the bedroom, feeling it pulse through his body – wild and hot. Unlike other magic, which depleted as the mage used it, the magic of an incubus only grew when it was used. Without sex, an incubus couldn't access their magic. But if they had someone to fuck...their magic could be inexhaustible. 

He peeled his shirt off, and swayed into the bedroom. The vampire had undressed, just like Duo had told him too. That was good. It meant Duo's magic was working, and once Heero drank Duo's blood, the control would be permanent.

“This is a very nice suite. That looks like a really nice bed, too.”

“It is.” Heero said. He was sitting in the bed, his arms behind his head, with a smirk on his face. He didn't look at all uncomfortable with being naked. Then again, depending on how old he was, he would have had plenty of time to get used to his body.

Duo couldn't help it, he felt a rush run through his body when he stared at Heero's bare flesh. It was littered with scars, probably marks from past fights the vampire had been in. It was extremely sexy.

“Do you want me?” Duo asked huskily.

“Yes.” Heero replied. “Why don't you get in bed with me?”

“Mmm.” Duo agreed, and slid out of his pants. He left his boxers on. If possible, he was going to do this without actually fucking the vampire. That would make Trowa happy.

He climbed in bed with the vampire, and straddled him. “Yep,” He said after a minute, grinding his hips against Heero's, pleased with the instant reaction he got out of him. “This _is_ a nice bed.”

Duo leaned over and kissed Heero. He tasted Trowa on his tongue as he put it in Heero's mouth, and he pictured Trowa's dark hair and green eyes as he explored Heero's mouth with his tongue. Then he deliberately cut himself on one of Heero's fangs, and Heero's mouth filled with blood.

The vampire's reaction was immediate. An animalistic moan ripped through him, and his grip on Duo's waist tightened to the point of bruising. Heero eagerly sucked the blood out of his mouth, sucked on Duo's tongue wound until sharp pain ran through Duo's mouth. Duo's magic flared, and raced through them both, flooding them with lust. Duo had an instant erection, and ground himself against Heero's hard cock. He heard himself moan, loud and long, and felt a stab of guilt through the lust.

Heero was the one who forced them apart with sheer force of will. His pupils were pinpricks and his breathing was harsh. “You did that on purpose, didn't you.”

Duo grinned. He had a firm enough grip on Heero with his magic to admit the truth. “Yep.”

That turned Heero on more. He moaned again and hissed, “Why?”

“Well, I heard that for vampires, drinking blood is kind of like sex.” He purred.

“You're not wrong.” Heero ground out.

“I've gotten a non-human off with my body before...but never with my blood. I kinda want to know how that goes.” He said, and lifted his wrist up and held it out for the vampire. “Besides, don't I taste good?”

“Oh hell.” Heero resisted for a moment, but buckled under the power of Duo's magic and his own bloodlust. He took Duo's wrist and sank his fangs in, and then eagerly sucked the blood from the wound. Duo tried not to moan, but he couldn't help it. 

If they weren't going to actually fuck, Heero needed to drink a hell of a lot more blood then if they were just going to have sex. After Heero fed on his wrist, Duo guided him up to his neck. Demons had more blood then humans did, so Duo would survive being drained farther then a human could. He still started feeling a little light headed by the time Heero had drank hungrily from his neck as well.

_**Only one more.**_ He guided Heero down between his legs, to feed off his femoral artery. The vampire had stopped even pretending to protest, and was just making lustful noises of pleasure. He was drunk off blood and Duo's magic, and he sank his fangs into Duo's thigh with a snarl of pleasure and lust.

Duo was definitely dizzy now. He used one hand to hold himself up, and tangled the other one in Heero's hair. He whispered the harsh words of the binding spell, drawing on the magic in himself, and the magic that was running through Heero via the medium of Duo's own blood. It wasn't a long spell, but it was powerful, and required a lot of magic, which was why an incubus would usually sleep with their victim in order to generate the most amount of magic. Duo was already exhausted and anemic from blood loss, and he slipped up on the last few words. He would have to start over.

“Dammit!” He hissed.

That's when Trowa's magic ran out.

Heero noticed the difference immediately. Vampires are sensitive to magic, especially whey they are drinking it. It was enough of a difference to snap him out of his blood high, and raise his head to stare at Duo.

“You-you're not human!” He snarled.

“Trowa!” Duo yelled for his friend. Heero was fighting him now, fighting the hold that Duo had on him both physically and magically. The vampire was _strong_. He was burning through Duo's magic with a rate that made Duo physically ill.

Trowa appeared beside him. He was magically drained but still physically strong, and he dug his claws into Heero's back, forcing Heero back down into Duo's still bleeding thigh, where Heero's bloodlust would keep him drinking Duo's blood. “Hurry up and say it, dammit!” Trowa snarled.

“I'm _working_ on it!” Duo snarled back, and started the spell again, faster this time.

Trowa's presence made it easier. He rushed through the spell, forcing the blood loss and the pain out of his mind, concentrating on getting it done. He said the final binding words just as his own magic ran out, and Heero threw them both off with a snarl of rage. The vampire was not happy; he looked more then ready to rip them both in half.

Heero leapt for Trowa and Duo yelled, “Stop!”

Heero froze in mid-leap, lost his balance, and crashed to the floor. “...Incubus...” He hissed.

“Yep. Now go to sleep.” Duo said.

The vampire's eyes rolled back into his head, and he was still. Duo looked over at Trowa, and then back at the vampire. “We did it! I bonded a vampire!” He was grinning.

Trowa stared back at him with a grim look on his face. “Right. Now, how are we going to get out of here?”

Duo hadn't thought of that.

Chapter 2

“You didn't think this out at all, did you.” Trowa said flatly. It wasn't a question.

“I had an escape route planned. I didn't know we'd be going to his private suite! They usually have rooms on the ground floor for this kind of thing; makes humans feel more secure!”

“Well you're going to have to carry him. I can't lift that coffin and him too.” Trowa said. He was stronger than a human, but not as strong as Duo. Incubi were not the strongest demons by far, but they still possessed some demonic powers.

“Why do we have to bring his coffin? I've got one waiting for him on the plane!”

“ _Because._ ” Trowa dragged him out into the other room and opened the walk-in closet. “Have you ever seen a vampire's coffin that looked like this?”

The closet was full of stuff. It looked like Heero was more of a clothes-whore than Duo was, because he had at least ten outfits on the rack, and they couldn't have been planning on staying in the hotel for more than a few days. There was also a jewelry box with who knew what in it, and a few other things Duo couldn't quite make out near the back. 

Most of his attention was occupied with the coffin. It was shaped like a large, black metal trunk. It had all kinds of binding symbols etched into it, covering the entire surface. He stared at it for a few moments, and swore the symbols shifted in front of him. It was obviously magical, and creeped Duo the fuck out.

“Damn.” Duo said. “Yeah, okay. We should bring that.”

“Still think this is a good idea?” Trowa asked sarcastically.

“Yes.” Duo said resolutely, and opened the coffin. He picked up the unconscious vampire, who was heavier then he'd been expecting, and laid him into the coffin. As he sat him down, he felt a burning pain in his arm.

“Ow!” Duo hissed, pulling his arm away and dropping Heero inside. “What the hell? This thing is lined with silver! What kind of vampire sleeps in a silver coffin?”

He rubbed at the burn on his arm irritably. The whole thing was just weird. He looked down at Heero, who was still unconscious. If Duo shifted him while he was carrying the coffin, he'd get some nasty burns from the silver insides of the coffin. He sighed, and pulled down all Heero's clothes from the rack, arranging them around him to protect him from the sides of his coffin. For good measure, he put the jewelry box in near Heero's feet. Might as well take what he could, right?

“What the hell are these? Was he planning for trouble?” Duo wondered aloud, pulling out the two objects he hadn't been able to make out before.

There was a black rod, made of some unidentifiable metal. It didn't burn when Duo touched it, rather, it felt...good in his hands. There was definitely magic in it, and the magic 'liked' Duo. There was a strap on the rod, so Duo slung it across his back. If they were going to take some of Heero's stuff, they might as well take it all. They might be able to sell it for some cash.

The other item was wrapped in a deep, red cloth. Duo pulled the wrap off to reveal a sword with no scabbard. It was almost three feet long, and was shaped like an angel's wing; made of sharp, overlapping metal 'feathers.' Each feather was tipped with silver, and the metal itself emitted a soft, white light that made Duo's eyes water. He wrapped it back up quickly and held it out to Trowa.

“That's a demon-slaying sword.” Trowa said flatly.

“Yes. Yes it is. Why don't _you_ hold onto it?” Duo said, holding it out gingerly.

Trowa took it and slung it across his back. He didn't even bother try to suggest that they leave it behind. Duo would probably freak out if he even said anything about it.

“Okay.” Duo said. “There is a back stair for service personnel. We can take that. It's gonna suck to carry this down six flights of stairs, but we should be able to make it to the car without being seen.”

“Alright.” Trowa went to the door and looked out. “No one in the hall right now. Let's go.”

Duo took a deep breath, and heaved the coffin up onto his shoulder. “Oh damn, that's heavy. What is this thing _made_ of? Open the door, will ya?” The metal felt hot under his hands, but it didn't burn him.

“Just be glad you can lift it, you inhuman bastard.” Trowa muttered, but he held the door anyway.

They moved quietly down the hall, until they reached the door marked 'employees only.' Trowa opened that door as well, revealing a narrow staircase.

“Great, well. I'll go first, wouldn't want to trip and dump a vampire on you.”

They made it down the stairs without incident, exiting in the basement and heading towards the parking garage. The coffin was definitely heating up. Duo could feel his skin starting to peel against the metal. As a demon, he could withstand higher temperatures than a human, but this was rapidly becoming uncomfortable. And he had the sneaking suspicion that if he _had_ been human, the metal wouldn't feel hot at all.

“I don't think his coffin likes me.” Duo remarked. “Let's hurry, okay?”

“Walk faster then.” Trowa snapped. 

Duo could tell he was stressed – he had no magic left. If they were attacked, he couldn't protect them. That made Duo uneasy as well. He walked faster.

They practically ran to the car. Trowa fumbled with the keys and Duo snarled as the coffin burned into his flesh. Finally, Trowa opened the door and Duo slid the coffin in the back seat. He looked down at his arms and winced. There were long, angry red burns everywhere his skin had touched the coffin. Some of the symbols had burned into his skin too. Duo shivered. When they got back home they _had_ to find out what those meant, and why Heero had such a creepy coffin. He'd never admit it, but he was starting to think that maybe this was a bad idea.

He was about to close the back door and get into the car himself, when his magical sense tingled, and he was picked up and slammed against his vehicle by an unknown force. Trowa was thrown across the hood of the car and hit the pavement, hard. 

“Give him back.” A young voice demanded, crackling with power. Duo looked up with blurred vision to see the teenage vampire from before approaching them, one hand stretched out towards them.

Trowa picked himself up off the ground with a snarl. He let some of his personal camouflage fall away, and his fingernails morphed into a wicked, four inch claws. He sped towards Naoe with the speed only a shape-shifter could manage, claws outstretched.

He didn't even get close. The telekinetic dropped his grip on Duo, and turned to face the shape-shifter, all in the instant it took Trowa to close the gap between them. Naoe's eyes narrowed. He brought up his other hand, and the shape-shifter was sent flying through the air to land back on the concrete with a sickening crunch. Duo's brain finally processed what was happening - the vampire was a fucking telekinetic.

“Trowa!” He screamed. 

Naoe was focused on Trowa for a moment, seeing if he was going to get back up again. The shape-shifter wasn't moving. Duo scrambled towards the back seat and undid the catches on the coffin. He threw open the lid and hissed.

“Heero, get up!” He didn't even know if it would work; the bond was fresh and weak. But he had to try.

The vampire's eyes flew open and he sat up. “Tell that kid to leave us alone!” Duo said, and then choked as the air tightened around his throat. “Heero!” He gasped out, “Tell him to _stop_!”

Heero couldn't get out of the coffin with it shoved in the back seat, but his voice carried well enough. “Naoe, stop.”

The choke hold dropped away instantly. Duo gasped for breath. Heero _was_ Naoe's master, after all. It had been a gamble, hoping that Heero could control Naoe the way that Duo could control Heero. Every vampire had that bond with their maker, and it was much stronger and deeper than any incubus' bond. A master vampire's second was usually of his or her making, but that wasn't always the case. If Duo had been wrong, Naoe wouldn't have to do what Heero said. But if his sire gave him a direct order, Naoe wouldn't be able to refuse, even if that order were to take his own life.

“Master...what are you doing?” Naoe asked, his voice full of betrayal. “You're _helping_ them kidnap you?”

“I have to.” Heero ground out. He did not sound happy about it.

“Just let me deal with them master. It won't be any trouble.” He raised his hand again, gesturing to Trowa's still form. “This one's almost dead anyways.”

“No!” Duo snarled.

“No, Nagi.” Heero echoed Duo's command.

“But-”

“Go inside, Nagi. Stay there until we are gone.”

“Master!”

“ **Go.** ” The word echoed in the room, and carried the vampire's power with it.

Nagi snarled, but lowered his hands. He walked backwards across the parking lot, keeping his eyes on them, but unable to stay. His eyes smoldered with hate and rage. Duo was extremely glad they would be out of his reach soon.

When he was gone, Duo ordered Heero back into his coffin. Heero was still angry, but he didn't even try to fight it this time. Duo raced to Trowa's side. The shape-shifter was still breathing, and his wounds were already closing. He came to with a groan, and Duo helped him into the car.

“I think I'd better drive.” Duo told him, and Trowa didn't argue, collapsing into the passenger's seat and staying there.

Duo got into the driver's seat, hoping fervently that the vehicle would start with him at the wheel. He had to try it a few times, but the engine finally turned over. He headed to the airport, where their plane was waiting, checking his rear view mirror every thirty seconds. He kept expecting to look into it and see those cold gray eyes staring at him, but he never did.

The car made it all the way to the airport and out onto the private airstrip their plane was waiting on. Then it coughed and died, refusing to start again. Well, that was one deposit they wouldn't be getting back.

Duo motioned for the human crewmen to come move the coffin. He had no intention of being burnt again. He went around to the passenger's side to help Trowa out of the car, but the shape-shifter waved his offer of help away angrily.

“I'm not dead yet. I can walk.”

Trowa stood up stiffly, and hobbled his way over to the plane. Duo wondered how many bones Nagi had broken when he'd crushed Trowa into the pavement. Shape-shifters healed fast, but it still had to hurt. Trowa was a stubborn bastard. Duo would have to force him to see a healer when they got home, to make sure the bones hadn't healed wrong.

“Hey, Howard.” Duo said, when he'd boarded the plane. “You got my coffin ready for me?”

The old pilot grinned at Duo. “Yeah, we got it ready. Got barf bags for ya in there too.”

“Geez Howard, it was one time! I promised I'd never get sick in your plane again.” Duo flushed. The first time he'd ridden with Howard, he didn't know he got incredibly sick when they flew over moving water. Apparently it was a demon thing.

“Well, it's a long flight.” Howard said. “Ya might be sick, even in that coffin. Master Quatre called and yelled at me a few hours ago. He'd just found out you two planned to fly all the way back to California in one go.”

“Yeah, well, he can just deal with it. We have a seriously pissed off second-in-command vampire who's probably tailing us. I'd like to get over water as soon as possible.”

Howard laughed. “You never could do things nice and quiet, could ya? I did all the pre-flight checks before y'all got here, so get in, my boys'll strap ya down like they did your undead friend, and we'll be out of here.”

“Alright, I'll go get in now. And thank you Howard, I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

He headed back towards the rear of the plane, where Heero's coffin was already strapped down for takeoff. Trowa was sitting in one of the four passenger seats, his jaw set, and his hair covering his right eye as much as it could. He was in pain; not obvious to the people around him, but it was plain enough for Duo.

“Hey, Quatre bought me a ridiculously large coffin for the trip. It's like...queen size. You can come lay down with me, if you want.”

Trowa looked at him for a moment, as if he thought Duo's words were some sort of trap. Duo was offering to let him be close to him, one of the few places that he knew Trowa felt safe. He also knew that Trowa would never shift into his true form in front of humans, even humans he knew. He would heal better and be in a lot less pain if he wasn't keeping his disguise up.

“Fine.” He relented at last. “Wouldn't want you to get sick with no one there to take care of you.”

“I got sick once! Once!” Duo protested weakly. He knew Trowa was just pushing the blame onto him in order to save face.

Trowa let Duo lay down in the coffin first, before lowering himself down beside him. Trowa reached up and pulled the lid closed, and Duo could hear Howard's crew strapping the coffin in place. He reached out and touched Trowa's face softly. He hadn't been lying; this coffin was enormous. They even had about three inches of space between them, though it would be more comfortable if Trowa decided to spoon with him.

“You're...such an idiot Duo.” Trowa sighed, and pushed himself across the coffin to press his back against Duo's chest. 

“Every time you plan a mission, I always get the shit beaten out of me. Why do I stay with you again?” He reached up and pulled Duo's arms around his waist, and pressed his head against Duo's shoulder.

“I don't know.” Duo whispered back. “The sex is good?”

“Mm. The sex _is_ good.” Trowa agreed. “Now shut up. I'm going to try to get some sleep.”

Duo managed to be quiet for about three minutes. “You can use me, you know.”

“What?”

“I can still generate magic. Use me to heal yourself. You've done it before.”

Trowa's reply was cut off by the sound of the engine roaring. Even with the straps in place, the plane shook during takeoff, and Duo silently thanked Quatre for getting them a well-padded coffin. As they rose over the water, Duo felt like the ground dropped out beneath him. His head spun, and his stomach flipped, nausea flooding him in waves.

He fucking hated flying over water.

Trowa was stroking his arm. “See? You're not in any shape to be offering magic to me. You're going to be coughing blood by the time we land.”

Duo couldn't find the strength to argue. He felt like it had been drained out of him, as the sea stripped away his body's ability to push down pain and to heal, and all his wounds came to the surface in a swamping wave of pain. If this was what it felt like to be mortal, Duo didn't understand how humans could bear it.

He felt Trowa's form ripple and shift against his skin. Smooth, human skin was replaced with rough fur, and Trowa grew taller and wider, until his head hit the end of the coffin, and he had to bend his knees to fit his very tall body in the now small space. Duo never understood why Trowa liked to make himself shorter then Duo. The one time he'd gotten an answer out of Trowa, the other man had said that he liked it when Duo held him, which was more of an evasion than an answer.

Quatre often called Duo's tail a monkey tail because he could grab onto things with it, using it like another hand, but Trowa had never spoken about it like that. The shape-shifter's tail was much shorter than Duo's, and he didn't feel comfortable about it the way Duo did. It was more like a wolf's tail than Duo's long and slender one, and he couldn't move it like Duo could move his. Duo kept his tail out all the time, and had insisted that Trowa build his camouflage around it. Trowa always kept his hidden, and even when he was in his true form, he didn't like looking at it. 

Duo, on the other hand, liked wrapping his own tail around Trowa's, wanting the tingling, intimate contact that only the feeling of their two tails entwined could bring. Trowa didn't let him do it very often; he was extremely self-conscious about his true self and everything that entailed. He dared to do it now, and the shape-shifter didn't protest, he just leaned into Duo's touch. Duo took this as a good sign.

“Hold me, Trowa.” Duo whispered. He felt sick, and he and Trowa were about as alone as they could get. No one would even bother to unstrap the crate until they landed some ten hours from now.

Trowa turned around in the coffin with difficulty, and Duo pressed himself up against Trowa's chest. He inhaled the strong, musky scent that was pure Trowa, and sighed contently. Sometimes it _was_ nice to be held.

**xxx**

Trowa fell asleep with Duo in his arms. In public, the other man talked constantly, bounced around, cursed, fucked, and occasionally killed something. But he only ever let his guard down with Trowa. He might sleep with others, and he often did, but Trowa was the only one he would cuddle with.

He was exhausted and wounded – he slept through their entire flight, only waking when the plane finally touched down on land again. It was a struggle to shift back out of his natural form – he was still tired, and hungry, and magically drained. But he forced himself to do it anyway – no one saw his true form except Duo. And sometimes Quatre, but that was because the Leech was a nosy bitch. And pretty much everyone had to get naked around their healer, a point that Quatre rubbed in his face every time Trowa had to let him see his true form.

Trowa didn't know if Quatre had been waiting for them, or if Howard had called him once they'd landed, but by the time Duo's coffin was unstrapped and unloaded and the latches undone so Trowa could get out, Quatre was there, waiting beside a black truck with a large bed. Heero's coffin was already loaded into the back of it.

Trowa tried to remember if he'd ever seen Quatre so angry, and decided that he hadn't. The blonde was furious. He was swearing in Arabic when Trowa climbed painfully out of Duo's coffin, and if Trowa hadn't been so obviously injured, Quatre looked like he might hit him.

“I said _four_ hours over sea water, maximum!” He snarled. “Not twelve!”

“We had to.” Trowa said simply.

“Why? Because of whoever crushed half your insides? _Yes_ , I know about that. You two are so _stupid_. I knew Duo was an idiot but you should know better then – mother of fuck!”

Quatre had reached Duo's coffin and looked inside. This time his litany of expletives included words in every language Quatre knew, which was a lot of them. Trowa looked back into the coffin to see what had Quatre so upset, and paled himself.

Duo looked terrible. He was deathly pale and still. There was black blood running down his face from his mouth, eyes, ears and nose. For a moment, Trowa had the horrible thought that Duo was dead. But he wasn't – Trowa could see the small rising and falling of his chest. He was alive, but very, very sick.

“Take his disguise off, right now.” Quatre snapped. “He needs to be in his true form. Then we are getting in that truck, and driving to my place as fast as we can, do you understand?”

Trowa hesitated. Duo was touchy about his true form, just like Trowa was. He'd grown up not knowing what he was, and when he'd hit puberty and his demonic body had taken him over, he'd tried to kill himself. He very, very rarely asked Trowa to take down the permanent camouflage Trowa had given him the first time they'd had sex, and Trowa felt uneasy about taking it down now without his permission.

“Trowa!” Quatre snapped. “He's _dying_.”

That snapped Trowa out of his indecision pretty quickly. He reached out to the magic that always coated Duo – his magic, clinging to Duo's entire body, and _pulled_ the loose end he'd left on the spell that would make the entire thing unravel.

Duo...rippled. His image flickered for a moment, until the spell dissolved. Then the illusion fell away, turning human skin into deep, red demon skin, turning Duo's fingers into claws, his teeth into fangs, and revealing his horns, which jutted out of the front of his skull and curled gracefully back over his head. Two small, useless wings folded themselves against Duo's back, and a row of small, curved horns appeared down Duo's spine.

A reassuring hand was placed on Trowa's shoulder, “He won't be mad at you, Trowa.” But Trowa didn't believe him.

“I'll get him in the back Trowa. Go get in the truck.”

“No...I'm staying with him. I have enough magic left – no one will see me.”

Quatre sighed. “Fine. But get out of the way so I can move this.”

He motioned to Duo's coffin, and the lid closed on its own, clasps snapping shut. Invisible hands picked it up and carried it over to the truck bed. Trowa shivered. Quatre was a Leech – he could absorb the magic of other beings he met and use it as his own. At some point, he'd met a telekinetic. Right now, Trowa was not fond of telekinesis. He pulled himself up into the truck bed and sat in the corner, a protective arm thrown around Duo's coffin. The back of the truck bed slammed shut, and the truck's engine started with a roar.

“Hold on.” Quatre advised, before getting into the driver's seat.

Because Quatre had met Trowa, and probably other shape-shifters, he could use illusion magic of his own. Trowa decided that he must be using it, or they would have definitely died on the way to Quatre's house. Quatre drove like a madman. He was going at least a hundred miles an hour, running traffic signs and lights, swerving in and out of the traffic – even going the wrong way down one-way streets, taking the most direct path from the airport to his house.

Even with his insane driving, it still took them twenty minutes to get there. As a healer, Quatre was sensitive to the energies around him. He couldn't work in the city – he needed to be in the country, where he could feel the Earth, he said. He lived in a 'town' that was basically just four houses on a road between two slightly larger towns, but he seemed to like it, and as a plus, there were very few people around to notice just how much magic surrounded Quatre's place.

When they'd pulled up into the driveway, skidding across the dirt as Quatre slammed on the breaks. Quatre said,“Stay out here with them. I need to set a few things up.” That was his way of saying, 'I'm going to cast magic and I don't want you in here messing it up.'

Trowa waited in the truck impatiently. He ran his fingers over the surface of Duo's coffin, worrying. Quatre said Duo was dying. He had no idea flying over the ocean was so lethal to Duo. They'd flown several times, and Duo had always been ill, but it had never been anything some sex and a few hours sleep wouldn't cure. He'd known that this would be worse, but he hadn't known how much worse it could be. Duo was _dying._ Trowa couldn't even process that.

“It's ready.” Quatre said. Trowa hadn't even heard him come back outside.

As much as he wanted to carry Duo himself, he let Quatre's borrowed telekinesis move both coffins. He followed Quatre into his house, feeling an electric tingle across his skin as Quatre's magic washed through him when he stepped across the threshold.

Quatre's house was always different every time he visited. The Leech re-decorated weekly. He claimed he got bored easily, but both Duo and Trowa knew it was because he was a professional fence. That's where all his money came from - he literally moved all his merchandise through his house and onto the market.

Trowa didn't have any interest in seeing what Quatre had for house furnishings this week. His eyes were on Duo's floating coffin. He followed Quatre to the back of the house, where Quatre's magic workroom usually was. Quatre had put up blackout curtains, and lit a few lanterns around the room.

The room was bare now, except for two magic circles. One was drawn around the closet door, so half the circle was inside the closet. Quatre placed Heero's coffin between the two posts of the doorway, in the exact center of the circle. He waved his hand, and more binding symbols appeared, crawling all over the door way, down onto the floor and across Heero's coffin.

“That should hold him.” Quatre muttered darkly. Trowa had no idea what he was talking about.

The other magic circle took up the rest of the room, and had a queen-sized bed sitting in the middle of it. Quatre set Duo's coffin down gently on the floor, and the locks popped open. Duo floated up out of it, and the covers pulled themselves back up over him, and the coffin went sliding away to the corner of the room.

Trowa rushed to Duo's side. Duo looked so vulnerable in the large bed. Trowa reached out and touched Duo's skin, which was ice cold. He heard a small whimper in the silence of the room, and realized he was the one who'd made it. It had finally hit him – Duo was dying.

“It'll be alright, Trowa.” Quatre said softly. “He'll pull through. The circle will help him heal. But he can never fly over that much water again.”

“No.” Trowa agreed in a hoarse whisper. “Never.”

Quatre had a damp cloth, and he gently wiped blood off of Duo's face. It looked like he had stopped bleeding now, which Quatre assured him was a good sign. “Help me get his magic started.” Quatre said.

Trowa made a face. Quatre meant they needed to make Duo come. He knew it was true – he couldn't feel Duo's magic like Quatre could, but he knew it had to be dangerously low if he was so cold.

“I can do it.” He insisted.

“Trowa, you can barely stand.”

“I'm _fine_.” He ground out. “Duo is _mine_ dammit.” Trowa snarled.

“Trowa, now is _not_ the time to decide to be possessive, for fuck's sake!”

Trowa snarled at him. He'd had enough of everything and their fucking brother putting their hands all over Duo. “At least, let me try first.”

“Fine.” Quatre backed off.

Trowa climbed into bed beside Duo, ignoring the sharp stab of pain that ran through him as his insides reminded him that he was _not_ healed yet. He silently told his body to go to hell. Duo was more important right now.

He kissed Duo gently. He didn't even know if Duo would wake up, but he had to try. Not that Duo strictly _needed_ to be awake to orgasm. Incubi were like that. But he wanted Duo to wake up – he needed to see Duo's eyes, hear his voice. He had to know Duo was going to be okay.

Duo stirred when Trowa slid his hand down Duo's pants. “...Tro? Wha....mmmmmm....” Duo kissed him back for a few moments before pulling away. “...not now. I dun feel like it.”

He didn't _feel_ like it? Trowa looked at Quatre with a horrified expression. “What's _wrong_ with him?”

“He's totally drained, Trowa. He's got no magic at all. We have to convince him he really wants it. Let me help, Trowa.”

“...” Trowa growled under his breath. “No touching.”

“I won't touch him with my _hands_ Trowa.” Quatre said, deliberately stressing the word 'hands.'

Trowa snarled again, but his worry overcame the strong wave of jealousy he felt. “Whatever.”

Trowa deliberately focused on Duo's face and chest, because he knew Quatre's attention would be...elsewhere. He slid one hand up Duo's shirt, ghosting his hands softly across Duo's skin. He started kissing him again – still carefully, but more aggressively. Duo began to stir, and at first he tried to push Trowa away again. Trowa growled, and lifted his free hand up to Duo's horns, moving it lightly across the surface.

Duo's protests turned into a moan. A demon's horns and tail were their most sensitive places – a single touch could bring pleasure or pain. Duo hated his demon self, and usually got angry when Trowa touched those parts of him. But this was an emergency, and Trowa knew Duo wouldn't be able to resist if he did it right.

“Mmm...Trowa...” Duo sighed softly, his arms coming up to hang loosely around Trowa's hips. “Feels good, Trowa.”

Trowa decided he was not going to think about what Quatre was probably doing to warrant that statement.

It didn't take long. Duo could never last on the few occasions Trowa had managed to let him make love to his demonic side. Between Trowa's soft caresses and whatever else was happening to him, Duo didn't even make it five minutes before he gave a soft, whimpering cry, and his whole body shuddered as he came. 

Trowa gave him one last kiss before he sat up and looked over at Quatre. “Did it work? I didn't feel anything.” 

Usually Duo's magic flooded whoever he was fucking him with lust, but there had been nothing. Quatre at least had the decency to look completely unaroused by the whole thing. He studied Duo for a moment before replying, “It worked. His magic has started working again. It's still weak, but he'll start to heal now. Is his skin warm?”

Trowa laid a hand on Duo's face. It felt warmer than it had before, but it wasn't the furnace heat Trowa associated with Duo. “I think so.”

“Good.” Quatre sounded tired all of a sudden, and Trowa wondered how much magic it had taken to cast those circles.

“Now, do you want food or an exam first?” Quatre asked, fixing his gaze on Trowa.

“I don't need an exam.”

“You most certainly do.” Quatre snapped. “I know how you heal, Trowa. Based on how long you've had to heal, and the way your injuries look now, you almost died.”

“We both know I know how to put my body back together better than you do.” 

“Don't be stubborn, Trowa.” 

“I'm not. I just need food, and sleep. I'll be fine in a couple of days.”

Quatre threw up his hands. “ _Fine!_ Whatever. You're such a bitch when you're in pain.”

Trowa snarled, and buried himself under the covers beside Duo.

“I'll bring you something to eat in a few hours then. And you can eat in bed too, you ungrateful, possessive bastard.” Quatre griped.

Trowa pulled Duo close to him in response. He did manage a small, whispered, “Thank you.”

Quatre turned at the sound of an apology actually crossing the shape-shifter's lips. He smiled softly and said, “Get some sleep, Trowa.” The lanterns winked out, leaving them in darkness. Trowa relaxed, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Chapter 3**

Nagi was frantic. By the time he'd finally managed to shake off Heero's command to not follow him, it was too late – there was no longer a trail. Somehow those two _bastards_ had found Heero's coffin and stuffed him in it. That particular coffin _ate_ magic; that was its purpose. There was nothing left of Heero's presence to follow.

He was still _aware_ of his master, so he knew Heero was still alive, but he couldn't even tell how far away the other vampire might be. Finally he flipped open his phone and dialed a number he'd thought he'd never have to call.

“Mastermind Communications, this is Maggie, how may I help you?” A breathless female voice answered.

“I need to speak to Schuldich.” Nagi snapped. This was supposed to be his direct line.

“I'm sorry. Mr Schuldich is in a meeting right now. I can schedule you in sometime next week.”

A meeting at two am? Bullshit. “You can go interrupt whatever sort of drunken debauchery Schuldich is engaged in at the moment, **Maggie** , and tell him it's Nagi Naoe, and if he doesn’t pick up the phone right now, the next time we see each other I'll break every bone in his lecherous body.” Nagi snarled into the phone.

There was a flustered sort of noise, and then the crackle of someone covering the phone with their hand. Nagi could make out a harsh, nasal laugh in the background before the crackling stopped and Schuldich came on the phone.

“Wie gehts kätzchen?” Schuldich drawled. “Es ist lange her.*”

“I _knew_ this was your direct line.” Nagi snapped, refusing to acknowledge the warm rush that flooded through his body that just _hearing_ that voice gave him.

“Ja, it is. Where did you get it, anyways? Last time I saw you, mobile phones hadn't even been invented yet.”

“Oracle gave it to me.” Nagi said.

“Oracle?” Schuldich asked, completely serious now. “What happened? If he gave you this number it's for emergencies only.”

“I _do_ have an emergency. Heero Yuy has been kidnapped.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. “...who?”

Nagi swore. “Did Oracle not even tell you his new name? _Amatsu Mikaboshi,_ Schuldich. Fucking Mikaboshi is gone. I can't find him.”

A string of German curses were snarled into the phone. “So that's where you've been this whole fucking time? Oracle stuck you with guarding _Mikaboshi_ for the last hundred fucking years? For fuck's sake! Where in Europe are you?”

“Paris. At the Hotel de Crillion.” Nagi told him.

“Paris? _I'm_ in Paris.” Schuldich said.

“I know. That's why we came here. So if he got out of hand I could call you to help me with him.”

Schuldich was deathly quiet on the other end of the line. “Nagi. How _long_ have you been in Paris?”

“Six months.”

“ _Six months?_ And you never called me? You never...never let me know you were here?” At first his voice sounded hurt, but then it turned nasty. “Wait. There was a new head vampire appointed in Paris six months ago. The council voted on it but I had to run some stupid, pointless errand for Oracle. Are you telling me he deliberately kept me away from you?”

“Yes.”

“Fucking Christ, Nagi!” Schuldich snarled. “It's been a fucking hundred years! Give me a fucking break! I thought you were _dead_ or something. And you're tell me you've been in Paris for six months and haven't even fucking spoken to me? I came to Paris to get _away_ from you. The least you could do was say _hello_.”

“I'm speaking to you now.” Nagi said stiffly.

“Only because Oracle will probably execute you if you can't find Mikaboshi soon.” Schuldich spat. “Why don't you find another fucking telepath?”

“Because,” Nagi said quietly, “You're the only one who can span all of Europe.”

Schuldich snarled angrily into the phone, “I'll be there in ten minutes.”

It was fifteen. Nagi had gone up to the roof, because Schuldich would be able to focus better up there. Then he'd taken down a mental barrier he'd put up a hundred years ago; a barrier he'd meant to be permanent. When he found whoever had taken Heero, he was going to crush them until there was nothing left. And then he was going to lock Heero in that silver fucking coffin for the next _century_.

Schuldich found him because their mental link was open again. Nagi didn't need to tell him he was on the roof, because Schuldich already knew. Nagi felt it the second Schuldich touched his mind, and he had to grip the roof's railing to keep from falling over as that achingly familiar touch caressed his mind. In that first moment, he wanted Schuldich so much it physically hurt, before he could bury it again. He fiercely reminded himself why he'd left Schuldich in the first place, and allowed a hundred years of rage and betrayal to take the place of fierce longing.

He still found himself turning to face Schuldich when the stairwell door opened. He almost caved again at the sight of him. Schuldich hadn't changed at all. He was still tall and beautiful, his orange hair just as vivid as he remembered, his eyes just as blue as Nagi dreamed they were. His old lover hadn't changed at all, right down to the way his left eyebrow still twitched when he was furious, like it was now.

But Nagi...Nagi had changed. Schuldich had lost his angry expression before he'd taken two steps. Before he had taken three more, his expression had changed to one of deep concern. “Nagi,” He said, when he'd come to stand next to him. “What...happened? Last time I saw you, you weren't so...”

“Tall? Irresponsible? _Broken_?” Nagi snarled.

“...dead.” Schuldich said, and Nagi flinched away from the pity in his eyes. “Nagi...who did this to you?”

He reached out and touched Nagi's face. Nagi slapped his hand away, but not before he felt the warmth of Schuldich's skin. Schuldich was so alive, and he...he wasn't. “Don't touch me. You don't get to do that anymore.”

“But Nagi...”

It was impossible to be angry with Schuldich when he was actually managing to be concerned. Nagi wanted to throw himself into Schuldich's arms and cry it all out, but he wouldn't, and even if he did, all he could cry now were tears of blood.

“Oracle said Mikaboshi – I mean, Heero, needed to have someone with him he would trust. Someone who could keep an eye on him because he wanted them to be there.” Nagi said very, very quietly.

The anger was starting to come back into Schuldich's face. “He had Mikaboshi _turn_ you, didn't he! Mikaboshi is your fucking sire! How the fuck did that fucking old bastard talk you into giving up the sun Nagi? I'm going to kill him! I'm going to go to Austria and blow his fucking brains out! I'm going to shove the thoughts of everyone in Europe into his mind until it bleeds out his fucking ears!” Schuldich was practically screaming now.

“No, you won't.” Nagi said coldly. “You don't have the right to be angry about this. He didn't talk me into anything. He told me his plan and I volunteered.”

“That's because he knows you're a self-sacrificing little shit -”

“I would give _anything_ to make sure Mikaboshi never gets free again.” Nagi snapped. “ **Anything.** ”

“Nagi...” Schuldich said, his voice slipping back from anger to anguish.

“Shut up. Just shut **up!** ” Nagi said, his voice breaking. “Just find him. Before he kills someone.”

“I will.” Schuldich said.

Schuldich sat down, right there on the roof, and raised a hand to his temple. His eyes glassed over, and Nagi knew for all intents and purposes, Schuldich was no longer there.

Nagi watched over his body. When Schuldich was searching such a wide range like this, his own body was completely defenseless. He watched over Schuldich for three hours, even putting his coat around Schuldich to keep his body warm. Nagi wore it for appearances, he didn't need to stay warm anymore.

Nagi was beginning to fear he'd have to go inside and leave Schuldich out here. The sun was going to come up soon. When the sky was starting to change colors, the German's eyes slowly blinked open.

“Did you find him?” Nagi asked, the moment Schuldich blinked and focused back on the world around him.

Schuldich shook his head. “No. He's not in Europe, Nagi. He's gone.”

**xxx**

Heero woke up alone, in darkness, with a gnawing pain in his middle. He couldn't think straight. Where was he? He had a sinking feeling that he knew, and forced the instant panic back down where it belonged. He reached his hands out to the his sides, and found hard walls blocking his way. Walls coated in silver. He snatched his hands away with a snarl, feeling his skin blister at the touch. Warily, he reached another hand up, and hit another wall above his head, also coated in silver. 

Panic flooded him again, and this time it would not be pushed down. He was in his coffin. Why was he in his coffin? Nagi brought it with them everywhere, but Heero hadn't had to be put into it in decades. What had he done? He couldn't remember. The last thing he remembered was realizing that his human snack wasn't human at all. Had he killed them? He thought he would remember killing them. 

Heero shuddered. The last time he'd been put in here was for accidentally killing a human. He hadn't meant to, things had just gotten out of hand. Nagi had said he believed him, and he'd still locked Heero up for five years. Heero had nearly gone mad. If he'd killed an immortal, he didn't even want to think about how long they'd lock him up for. He couldn't stay in here. He couldn't do that again. He wanted to get _**out!**_

How long had he been in here? Days? Weeks? Years? He thought he was going to be sick. He had blocked out most of the memories of his last time in the coffin, but he remembered time had...flickered. He had long periods of consciousness that were hell, and then he drifted for who knew how long, and slept, when he could manage it. It had been so quiet – he'd found himself whispering in the darkness, just to hear some kind of noise. He remembered deliberately burning his body on the silver, just to feel something. He couldn't do that again. 

“Let me out!” He screamed. “Please! Please! Someone let me out!” Heero banged on the lid of his coffin, ignoring the searing pain. He had to get out! 

“Someone let me out!!”

**xxx**

Trowa was woken up by screaming. 

At first, he thought it was himself. He'd had some nauseating nightmares over the last two days, nightmares about losing Duo. He would wake up screaming, only to find that Duo was still asleep next to him. Duo had slowly recovered; he was sleeping easier now, and his skin was furnace warm to the touch, but he still hadn't woken up. 

Trowa checked to make sure Duo was still sleeping, turning over in the bed and reassuring himself that yes, Duo was still sleeping peacefully. It took his sleep-fogged mind a moment to realize that the screaming hadn't stopped, and was coming from the coffin on the other side of the room, where it still rested inside its confining circle.

As soon as Trowa realized where the sound was coming from, he intended on going back to sleep. But there was something about that scream that he couldn't ignore. First of all, there was no reason a vampire would scream in their own coffin. Unless it wasn't really his coffin...the inside had been lined with silver, after all. What the hell kind of vampire would sleep in a silver coffin by choice, anyways?

Trowa got out of bed, an uneasy feeling fighting its way to the surface. The voice was raw, Heero must have been screaming for a while now. He sounded...terrified. 

Quatre would probably kill him for letting Heero out. But Trowa couldn't ignore that voice any longer. He stalked across the room and stood as far away from the coffin as he could, and unlatched the straps.

Heero was up and out of the coffin faster than Trowa could even think. Heero ran away from it, until he hit the invisible barrier that was the edge of the circle. He hit it with a heavy thud, the impact throwing him backwards onto the floor. Trowa had forgotten that Heero had been naked when they put him in the coffin. He was reminded of it now, and forced himself to look away from Heero's rather impressive cock.

“What...what the fuck?!” Heero was angry, Trowa could hear it in his tone and see it on his face. He was also still clearly terrified, which probably only made him more angry. “Where _am_ I?” He looked up at Trowa, and all the fear left his face, replaced by rage.

“ ** _You._** ” The vampire shot up and slammed his fist into the barrier. The house shook, and the barrier shuddered with the effort of keeping Heero in. 

“ _You_ brought me here. You and that fucking incubus. Where _am_ I? Where is Nagi? Why did you put me in that fucking box?!” Heero was screaming at him, his fangs out and his entire face twisted with fury. “ **Let me out!!** ”

Heero slammed into the barrier again, this time with both hands. The house shook again, but the barrier held. Heero snarled in rage. Trowa watched in horror as he took a razor sharp fingernail and slashed both of his wrists to the bone. Thick, dead blood sprayed everywhere, and Heero let out a hellish scream. He held out both of his hands, and the blood rose from the floor and coated them, extending Heero's own fingers into demonic claws. He turned murderous eyes on Trowa and slashed at the barrier. 

The house...screamed.

The barrier began to crack. It was like watching glass shatter, except it was glass that was so clear you couldn't even see it. Cracks just formed in the air as Heero slammed into it over and over, his words completely incoherent, his eyes drowning in madness.

“What the fuck?!” Quatre appeared at the door, his hair wild, his eyes flashing in fury. “You let him out!”

Trowa just stood there. He couldn't deal with this. This was completely insane. This was _not_ happening. “He...he was screaming.”

“Well, he's screaming now, and he's going to get out!” Quatre yelled. He stormed into the room and gestured to the coffin with an angry flick of his wrist. 

It opened, and Heero stopped screaming in anger, and started wailing in fear, instead. The blood around his hands fell to the floor as the spell dissolved with Heero's concentration. He backed as far away from it as he could, his back to the barrier, his hands scrabbling at the invisible wall, trying to find some way out. 

“No.” His voice was a hoarse whisper. He turned terrified eyes towards Quatre. “Please.”

Trowa had never seen Quatre so full of hate. The blonde man's voice was venom. “You're going to go back in there, and you're going to _stay_ there until I can get you back to where you belong. You insane, murderous son of a bitch.”

“No, I don't think he will.” A weak voice said from behind Trowa.

Duo was there, looking like he was barely able to keep himself up. Trowa's eyes shot back over to the now empty bed. How the hell had Duo gotten up without him noticing? Duo stared defiantly at Quatre, and pushed his foot across the circle, smearing the paint across the floor. 

“No!” Quatre yelled.

The barrier collapsed, the containment spell breaking the instant the circle was destroyed. Heero fell backwards out of it, landing in Duo's outstretched arms. Duo wasn't strong enough, and collapsed to the floor with Heero on top of him.

“Duo!” Trowa cried, going to Duo's side. He shoved Heero off his lover, and the vampire went with no resistance – just a groan.

“I'm okay. I'm okay.” Duo wheezed. He tried to sit up, then moaned and lay back down. “Well. Maybe not.”

Duo looked over at Heero and asked him softly, “Are you okay? I'm sorry I put you in that box. I thought...I thought it was yours.”

“It's not mine.” Heero spat. “I'm a master vampire, I don't sleep in a coffin, I sleep in a bed.”

“Then what's that for?” Duo asked, gesturing to the coffin.

Heero didn't answer him, glaring at it in hatred.

“It's for punishment.” Quatre said flatly.

“For what?” Duo tried to sit up again. Trowa pushed him back down irritably. If he wouldn't be quiet, he could at least lay there.

“Everything.” Quatre hissed.

“What? You're not making any – uuugh -” Duo stopped mid sentence, doubled over and vomited black blood onto the floor.

“Duo!” Trowa held him while he was sick, smoothing Duo's hair out of his face. He was such an idiot. If he hadn't let Heero out, none of this would have happened. 

“You are getting back in bed, right now.” Trowa said, when he finally stopped throwing up. Duo nodded weakly. Trowa picked him up and carried him back over to the bed, tucking him back in.

Heero looked at the blood on the floor, then warily over at Quatre. He slid his hand across the floor until it was touching the puddle of black blood. Trowa watched in morbid fascination as the blood around Heero was absorbed into his skin. The cuts in his arms disappeared, the dark circles under his eyes faded away, and his skin became less pale.

“Well, that's one way to feed my vampire.” Duo grinned weakly.

“Your vampire appreciates it.” Heero said bitterly. “Now tell me that I'm not allowed to leave the house, or he'll put me in that box again.” Heero gestured angrily to Quatre. 

“You're not allowed to leave the house.” Duo said, and then coughed. There was black blood on his hand. Duo grimaced and rubbed it off onto his shirt.

“Okay, that's enough.” Trowa said. “You're going to lay down, and I'm going to lay down next to you, and you're going to rest. And when you get better, we're going to have words.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay Tro.” Duo smiled. He lay down and wrapped himself around Trowa, nuzzling his face. “Mmm...you're comfy.”

Trowa held Duo close, and glared at Heero. “Just because he bonded you, doesn't mean he's yours.”

Heero threw up his hands. “You say that like I wanted this. I'm going to go change.” He reached gingerly into the coffin and pulled out some clothes. Then he stalked out of the room, sparing Quatre a dark glare on his way out.

“You wanna tell me what that was about?” Trowa asked, staring at Quatre.

“Nothing. Don't worry about it. We'll talk when Duo is better.” Quatre said dismissively. He also turned and left.

Trowa sighed, and pulled Duo closer. Then he looked at Duo and said, “You made a huge mess, you know that?”

“Yeah.” Duo said, “I know.”

**xxx**

Heero found the bathroom without too much trouble, and had the satisfaction of closing the door in the blonde man's face. The blonde seemed to know him, which was annoying, because Heero didn't know who he was at all. Probably someone from before he'd been bound, because the blonde seemed to really, really hate him. 

Heero scowled down at his skin, looking at the angry burns that would take weeks to fade from his flesh. Wounds made from silver always took a long time to heal, and burns from that damn chest took longer. That's what it was made for – to punish him. It was spelled so it would never kill him, just inflict a lot of pain.

He turned to examine himself in the mirror, and scowled again when he couldn't see his reflection. Of course; this wasn't a vampire's home, there was no reason the mirror would be spelled. He bit his thumb, and wiped the small bead of blood that welled up onto the bottom, right hand corner of the mirror. A thought shaped it into a ring on tiny symbols, and the barest flick of magic embedded it into the glass.

Heero's image slowly swam into view. He looked himself over to find the extent of the damage. His arms and hands had dark, angry burns from pounding on the silver lid, but the rest of his body hadn't been burned too badly. All of his clothes had protected his skin from the silver walls.

That thought made Heero angry again. They'd stolen all of his clothes! He reminded himself to find out if they'd stolen his sword too. Probably – it looked like they'd taken everything else in his closet. He was surprised they hadn't stolen the bed sheets and the television too.

He looked down to see what clothes he'd grabbed. He hadn't really been thinking at the time – he'd just grabbed the first things his hand had touched. It turned out to be some of the clothes Nagi had bought in an attempt to get him to modernize. It was a pair of ridiculously overpriced dark blue jeans, apparently designed by one of the most famous European designers, and a black v-necked long sleeved shirt. 

The shirt was a thick, black wool shirt, and apparently very warm. Heero didn't see the point, since he radiated no body heat unless he'd just fed. Nagi had rolled his eyes and said that it wasn't for Heero, it was for whatever human he was fucking that week. He'd never worn it. Now, Heero had to grudgingly admit that it looked good on him. It hid the burns on his arms, and it accentuated the narrowness of his hips and the broadness of his shoulders.

He set the jewelry box on the sink counter, and flipped it open. He saw that besides being tossed around, it looked like all the jewelry was still there. It wasn't normal jewelry – it was all spelled, and it's purpose was to keep Heero's power in check. Nagi had them made when he became Heero's second, and while Heero hated them, they really did work. He'd taken all the jewelry off for the ceremony, wanting to have all his power in case he'd had to intervene with any of the more rowdy members of his coven. He was still new in Paris, and some of the older vampires had already challenged him. They had lost.

As much as he didn't want to put them back on now, he'd lost control so easily earlier, and it was obvious that the blonde was much less forgiving then Nagi was. He had no intention of going back in that coffin. For that, he'd put on almost anything.

Heero lifted out a simple silver chain from the box, and clasped it around his neck. He gasped as the spell took its effect, and had to clutch the counter as the metal bit into him, turning his skin numb and cold, and effectively cutting his magic in half. His hands were shaking when he took out the next bit of bindings; three rings with spelled gems set into them. He put two on his left hand and one on his right. They didn't do anything immediately, but if he attacked someone without being provoked, they would activate and cripple his hands. It was hard to work blood magic without hands, and it would, in theory, allow him to regain his senses.

The last piece was a bracelet made of an unknown metal. That also went on his left hand – his dominant hand; his sword hand. It allowed him to use his sword without it hurting him, and allowed the sword to also suppress the darker side of his nature. When he clamped it into place, the binding spilled out of it, spreading binding angelic runes across his skin – dark brown symbols standing out starkly against his pale flesh. They spread across his whole left side – all the way up into his hair and down onto his bare feet. Many humans and non-humans found the symbols intimidating, which was why he usually didn't wear it in public.

Heero looked at the two diamond studs left in the box. Nagi was going to kill him. They were the only jewelry in that box that belonged to Nagi, and they were very special to him. The telekinetic never talked about it, and he never wore them, but Heero knew that they had been given to him by Schuldich, and Heero caught him looking at them sometimes with the saddest look of longing on his face. Heero was not going to let Duo sell them. He shut up the jewelry box and reset the binding spell on it. Duo wouldn't be able to open it, and Heero would not let Duo force him to open it. Bond or no bond, he was going to fight it if Duo asked.

Heero opened the door, unable to have any more reason to hide in the bathroom. Quatre was waiting for him. Heero bit back a sigh. He didn't want to deal with this right now. There were blackout curtains up, but he could still feel the sun outside. It made him irritable. He didn't want to talk to this man who knew his darker self, who wanted to put him in that silver box.

“You put bindings on yourself.” The man said when he saw him, sounding surprised.

“I usually wear them. I only take them off when I'm going to be around lots of humans – it scares them. Nagi insisted I maintain good public relations.”

“Where did Duo find you that you needed to 'maintain public relations?'” Quatre asked, curious now that he seemed to be assured that Heero wouldn't kill everyone in the house.

“Paris.”

Heero sat down in a wooden chair across from Quatre. Neither of the chairs matched each other, or the table they were seated at. “I take it you didn't send them to get me then?”

“No.” He said. “I'm their healer, and their friend. I helped them do it, but only because Duo would have done it anyway. I didn't know you were the head of the Paris vampire clan, or I would have locked Duo in the basement to keep him from going.”

Heero let a small amount of his anger go. At least that man hadn't brought him here. “Am I supposed to know you?”

The blonde just stared at him. “I know who you are, if that's what you mean. My name is Quatre now, though I had a different name then. I helped bind you.”

“Did you? I don't remember. Then again, if I remembered, everyone in this house would be dead. That's how it works, right? If I remember who I was, then that is who I am. If I don't...I'm Heero Yuy. Whoever that is.” Heero said bitterly.

“We need to get you back to Europe.” Quatre said, fervently.

“I'm not even in _Europe_ anymore?” Heero asked, furious again. How could they? He could lose it any second, and there would be nothing to stop him. As far as he knew, all his guardians were in Europe. There was even a spell that prevented him from leaving, either on his own, or convincing someone to take him. It could only have been broken if he'd been taken against his will – something Nagi was supposed to prevent.

“You're in California.”

“California!” Heero leaped up, feeling that black rage boiling up inside of him. That fucking incubus had just marched into his life, getting into things he didn't know anything about, and had ripped Heero out of a very carefully crafted prison. A prison he needed to stay in.

The silver chain around his neck grew white hot as his rage activated the binding spell. It pushed away Heero's rage by replacing it by blinding pain. “Fuck!” He screamed, his hands going up to his neck and then flinching away from the silver. He sat back down, trying to force himself to calm down.

“Well, I guess I won't have to lock you up, if it works that well.” Quatre said. Heero knew he took great pleasure in Heero's pain.

Heero didn't remember what he'd done to warrant the amount of binding spells he had on him. As far as he could remember, he was only about six hundred years old – a decent age, but by no means the most powerful or dangerous vampire still living. He only knew that there was something inside of him – something dark, evil, and very powerful. 

He knew that if he started remembering his past self, remembered anything from before six hundred years ago, it warranted a week in that damned coffin. Nagi said it ate dark magic. Heero had gaps in his memory when he'd apparently been someone else, and had been placed in the coffin. Heero didn't mind not remembering any period of time in that hideous device, but it bothered him to suddenly have awareness and be covered in burns that took weeks to heal.

He'd been friends with a human who'd been demon-possessed before. It seemed to be the same – they never remembered any of the time the demon was in control, or any of the attempts to exorcise it. Nothing worked, and Heero had been the one to kill him in the end, purifying his soul with the Wing of Raziel. Sometimes Heero wondered why he had been bound instead of just executed. It would be easier for everyone.

“So.” Heero said. “If you didn't want Duo to bring me home, what _was_ he doing in Europe?”

“His brother, Solo, is one of the American Council's Hunters. The European Council calls them Inquisitors.” That meant executioner and torturer then. One of a small group who did the Council's dirty work.

Quatre continued. “Solo is a full blooded Incubus – he's Duo's half-brother. Incubi are not tolerated by the Council, because they can bind other immortals against their will. Solo killed the first Hunter who came for him, and the Council offered him the job. He bound a vampire and a fire demon to himself, to help him do his job. Incubi are great at seducing things; not so good at killing them. It's not against the law to bind a demon, and since he bound the vampire in Europe, the Council looked the other way.”

“And Duo is also a hunter?”

“He has to be. They would execute him, if he wasn't.”

“Why does he need me? He's already got a shape-shifter bound to him.” Heero said bitterly.

“Be quiet!” Quatre snapped.

Heero was confused. After seeing that the binding spell would keep Heero in check, Quatre had relaxed. He'd been almost friendly. But his eyes had darkened again at the mention of Trowa being bound to Duo. Then it dawned on him. “He doesn't know, does he.” It wasn't a question.

“Neither of them do.” Quatre agreed. “Duo did it by accident. And if the Council knew, they'd execute him, because they were in America when it happened.”

“That's hypocritical.” Heero snarled.

“We're like that.” Quatre agreed.

“You're _on_ the Council? You approved this? Forcibly binding one immortal to another, against his will?” Heero felt a warning jolt of pain from his collar, and he forced himself to stay calm.

“No.” Quatre said. “But it doesn’t matter. Treize has the majority vote. He went along with Solo and Duo's plan to get Duo a vampire to fight for him. He even paid for the trip. Solo can kill just about anything because of who he's bound to, and since Solo belongs to Treize, he makes Treize more powerful. With two incubi and powerful vampires bonded to them, Treize will be nearly invincible.”

“Well, too bad for him then. Most of the European Council will come here to get me back. Oracle will have probably seen it by now.”

Quatre grimaced. “Treize will tell Duo to fight them. Duo will make _you_ fight them.”

“No, he won't.” Heero said firmly. “His bond won't hold me. I'm too old. It will dissolve – if it hadn't already.” 

Quatre looked like he was going to try to stuff Heero back in the box again. “I'm fine.” Heero insisted. “You saw it. I can stay under control – I just need my sword.”

“Sword?”

“The Wing of Raziel. Duo stole everything else in my room. I'm sure he stole that, too.”

Quatre got up and left the room. Heero assumed he'd gone to look for the sword. He seemed to be extremely concerned with keeping Heero's darker nature bound. Heero wondered who he had killed, for Quatre to take it so personally.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. The more he thought about it, the more chance some of that evil would surface. Instead, he tried to clear his mind, and use the small amount of telepathic ability he possessed. His magic was weak with the collar on, but Oracle had told him that there was a telepath who could hear him, if he focused his entire gift on him. Heero didn't know if he'd meant as far away as California, but he had to try. He wished he'd learned Nagi's telephone number. That would have been much easier.

_**Schuldich**_ _..._ He thought as hard as he could, somewhere in the direction of Europe. He strained as hard as he could with his telepathy. He knew Schuldich was in Paris, and Nagi was in Paris, and he was linked to Nagi...

_**Schuldich...** _

There was nothing – it was too far. He couldn’t reach. Heero bit into his right wrist, and let the blood drip down his arm. If he just thought of it like blood magic...His mind connected suddenly with Nagi's. He gasped at the stabbing pain that went through his skull. He was too far away – so far away -

A mind stronger than his own grabbed Heero's. _**Wer ist da?****_

 _ **S-Schuldich? It's Yuy. I'm in California. I-**_ It was too much for him. The mental connection snapped from the strain. The backlash had Heero mentally reeling. His telepathy was gone. He'd never had much to begin with, and there was a good chance that he'd just burned that ability out of himself forever.

_**~Oh, you are so weak. I was much stronger.~** _

Heero's eyes few open, blinking at the light and his now throbbing migraine. He casually licked the blood off his arm, sealing the wound in his wrist. Quatre was there, holding a wrapped bundle – his sword. Heero reached for it. There was something just on the edge of his mind. Something he wanted to remember but couldn't. Something just in the back of his mind...

He unwrapped the sword and held it. The sword's light intensified, and all the markings on his skin _glowed_. Whatever had been bothering him vanished when he touched the sword hilt. It was so pure. Just looking at it sometimes made his eyes water, but it was so _right_. With this, he could face any threat. With this, he could stay sane.

_**~You're not in Europe now, Heero Yuy. Your sword will not protect you.~** _

“That's an angel's wing.” Quatre gasped. “You made an angel's wing into a sword?”

“It was given to me.” Heero said, wrapping the sword back up and slinging it across his back. He wasn't planning on ever letting it out of his sight.

“By who?”

Heero shrugged. “By an angel, of course.”

Quatre just stared at him. At that moment, Heero's head throbbed with agony, and he cried out from the sudden, blinding intensity of it. He clutched his head with both hands, willing it to stop. He didn't want anyone to see him so weak, especially not someone on the American Council.

“You okay?” Quatre asked warily.

“I'm fine. Just...overextended myself. I let Nagi know I was in California. I'll be fine.” He couldn't shake the feeling something was very wrong.

A dark chuckle echoed in his mind. _**~Soon, I will be free.~**_

* Assuming the reliability of internet translation, he said, “What's up, kitten?” and “It's been a long time.” In German, of course. :3

**Schuldich said, “Who's there?”

Chapter 4

Heero was woken by sharp toenails in his ribs. He snarled, and opened his eyes to see Trowa's face glaring down at him.

“Get up. We're going out.” Trowa said shortly, obviously unhappy at being a messenger.

Heero groaned. He'd fallen asleep on the floor. Quatre refused to let him sleep in a bed, but he had given Heero some blankets, a pillow, and a blackout curtain. Heero had scowled at him and made a makeshift pallet on the floor, and then pulled the blackout curtain up over him to keep any sun from getting onto his skin. It hadn't been remotely comfortable.

He got up and stretched irritably. “Where are we going? I'm hungry.” He said through gritted teeth.

“Duo wants to go to Treize's club so he can 'look at you.' You can appease your disgusting habit there.” Trowa scowled at him, clearly unhappy about allowing a vampire to feed in his presence.

“A club?” Heero smirked. “It's one of _those_ kinds of clubs, right?”

Duo's head popped around the corner. “Yes, it's that kind of club. You'll have fun!! Treize just wants to see you, but other then that, you can drink as much blood and get as much ass as you want.”

“Don't encourage him Duo.” Trowa said.

“Wha-at?” Duo drawled. “You're starving, right Heero? You slept for two days while I was recovering, huh?”

“There wasn't anything else to do.” Heero grumbled.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I was a bit sick. Anyways go ahead and get dressed so we can go. Quatre's going to drop our stuff off at the apartment while we're gone, so we don't have to come back here.”

“I don't need to get dressed. I can go like this.” Heero said, indicating the clothes he'd been wearing earlier.

Duo wrinkled his nose. “You sure? You just slept two days in those.”

“Duo. I don't sweat. I don't have normal body functions. And I don't move when I sleep, so they're hardly even wrinkled.” He reminded Duo. This was ridiculous. He was bound to an idiot.

“Oh.” Duo blinked at him. “Right. Vampire stuff, I keep forgetting.”

“Yes. Vampire stuff.” Heero said. “Do I need a jacket?” He often wore a jacket to blend in; it made the humans more comfortable if he seemed more human. Being a powerful vampire, and therefore requiring a lot of blood, Heero generally did whatever got him their consent to feed.

Duo gave Heero a once-over. “You don't need one – you look good in that. And damn, it's weird seeing you with those tattoos!! Quatre told me you'd bound yourself, but I really didn't know what he meant.”

“They're not tattoos. I usually don't wear them in public. They frighten people.”

“Not in California baby! You'll blend right in. Now, c'mon! Let's go!” Duo seemed very excited to finally be getting out of the house. Heero hoped he wasn't always going to be this chipper.

There was a cab waiting for them outside. Heero slid into the back seat, all the way over. He let Duo take the middle, and Trowa crammed himself in on the other side. Duo was chatting excitedly to whoever would listen, and after figuring out that Duo didn't require anything else from him, Heero tuned him out. He watched out the window as they drove out of the small, residential street Quatre lived on, and then out onto a freeway. He had no idea where in California they were. As far as he knew, he'd never left Europe before.

They were in the hills somewhere; big rolling hills that were more like small mountains in their own right. Very few trees dotted the hills, it was mostly dried grass and short, stunted bushes that had been exposed to wind for their entire lives. As they went further, more and more houses crowded the hills, until nature was completely overtaken by by man. There was no breathing room between these houses. The land passing them was one huge, seething mass of humanity, pressed together in a never-ending stream of mortality. It made Heero's mouth water just thinking about it.

The cab pulled off the highway and took them a little way into town, stopping at a relatively decent sized transit center. There were buses waiting for passengers, subway trains taking off from a track above the bus stop. There were people milling about – some begging, some smoking, a few ladies screaming at their children, and some homeless people curled up on the dirty benches trying to sleep. Heero spotted a few immortals among the crowd – a couple of fey, a witch, and another vampire. None of them were very powerful, but they also weren't hiding their powers, either.

Duo caught him looking at them. “The American Council supports openness and integration. There was a lot of fighting for a while; prejudice, discrimination and all that. There still is. But most humans think we're sexy as hell. I've gotten laid _waaaay_ more since we started being open about it.”

“Hm.” Heero got out of the cab and looked around the transit center while Trowa and Duo climbed out. He had no idea where they were going. Paris had public transit, but Nagi had always insisted on private transit – either a limo or a taxi. He didn't trust Heero around large crowds.

Duo dragged Heero towards the ticket booths. He bought a ticket for himself and Heero – one way, Heero noticed, and showed him how to put the ticket in the slot and collect it at the other end. Heero felt incredibly old. He wasn't stupid, by any means, but technology made his head ache. In ten years, it'd be completely different, and to a vampire, a decade was nothing.

Inside the transit center, Duo led the way, and Trowa followed behind Heero, his baleful eyes watched for the slightest misstep. Heero was certain Trowa wanted to stake him. He wasn't going to bother to inform the shape shifter that killing a vampire as powerful as himself required a bit more effort then a sharpened wooden stick. It wouldn't be good to actually inform the shape shifter on how to kill him; he'd probably try it.

Duo seemed oblivious to it all – Trowa's anger, the press of the crowd, and Heero's growing discomfort. It was just after dark on a Friday night – throngs of young people were headed to the city to party and blow off steam from enduring another week at their shitty menial labor jobs.

It was intoxicating. As soon as they boarded the subway, Heero realized why Nagi had never allowed him to ride public transit. People crammed in behind them, pushing them into the subway car until there was literally no room left. Everywhere Heero looked there were people – living, breathing, laughing, crying, pissed off people. The sound of blood pounded in his ears, the smell of it was in the air, filling his nostrils with every breath. He was so very, very hungry.

“Dammit Heero, don't put your fangs out like that!” Duo hissed at him.

Heero hadn't even realized he had. He raised a hand reflexively to his mouth, feeling the sharp fangs. No one had screamed yet, which was good, but if there was panic on this subway car, people were going to get trampled. Even worse, if he lost control, who knew how long Quatre would stick him in that fucking box?

“This is your fault Duo.” Trowa said angrily. There was a slight look of strain on Trowa's face, and Heero knew instantly he was keeping the crowd from seeing Heero's fangs. “He's a hungry vampire and you've just stuffed him onto a train with his lunch. Are you _trying_ to get us killed?”

“I thought...I...um...there's free blood at the club.” Duo said helplessly.

“And how long is the subway ride?” Heero asked. He was holding his breath. It wasn't difficult, but it was uncomfortable. He was used to faking his breathing to blend in; holding it just felt strange.

“Um...half an hour?”

Heero swore. “Well I can't wait that long.” He snarled.

“Why not?” Duo asked. 

Heero stared at him. Duo had a completely sincere expression on his face. He was completely serious! “Do you know _anything_ about vampires?”

“Feed off me.” Trowa's strong voice broke in.

“No, no!” Duo said. “He's my vampire, I'll feed him. God, it's not like he can't wait anyway!”

“I can't.”

“Just shut up Duo. You're still injured.” Trowa shifted as much as he could in the crowd, and pulled down his turtleneck to expose his flesh. “Do it, and get it over with.” He instructed Heero.

Heero's mouth was on Trowa's neck before Duo could raise another word in protest. He kept one hand on the bar above their heads, for support, and put he other hand behind Trowa's head, to hold him while he fed. He nuzzled Trowa's skin, smelling the unique scent that was pure Trowa. Scent influenced flavor, and based on the way he smelled, Trowa's blood was going to taste divine.

“Stop fucking around.” Trowa snapped, clearly not enjoying being the object of Heero's more carnal desires.

Heero gave a feral smile, and licked Trowa's neck once more before he bit into the rich jugular vein in Trowa's throat. He was not disappointed. Trowa's blood was thick with magic, and full of flavors. Every form he'd ever taken had left its mark in his blood, each flavor unique and tantalizing. He dimly remembered the taste of Duo's blood – it was all mixed up in a tangle of rage in the back of Heero's mind, but it hadn't tasted anything like this. Heero could feed off Trowa forever.

“Enough.” Trowa said, only minutes after Heero had begun.

He didn't want to stop. He wanted this to go on forever – to be buried as he was in Trowa's neck, with blood running down his throat. It burned a fire in his veins – it made him feel alive again. There was so much _life_ in Trowa's blood; it was like drinking liquid sunlight.

“Stop.” Trowa gasped out. “Please.” 

Heero wasn't listening. He'd probably taken too much from Trowa already; if the man had been human he would have seriously incapacitated him. But he didn't care.

“Heero, stop it!” Duo snapped.

Heero felt the compulsion tugging at him, pulling him out of the warm place that Trowa's blood had taken him to. Apparently the bond hadn't degraded as much as he would have liked. He pulled himself off Trowa's neck, licking the wound to close it. He raised his head and looked at Duo with a grin, before taking the time to lick the rest of the blood off his teeth and face. He could feel Trowa's angry glare at the back of his head, but he chose not to look in that direction. Now that he'd gotten what he wanted from the shape shifter, he didn't really have any reason to acknowledge him.

With a smirk, Heero leaned on Trowa's chest the entire way. He could hear Trowa snarling under his breath, but the shifter couldn't do anything about it while they were packed together on the subway. Heero grinned toothily and stayed there, smelling Trowa and feeling Trowa's blood run through his veins.

They arrived in downtown San Francisco some time later. As soon as the car emptied out enough, Trowa shoved his way out of the car and away from him. Heero smirked and followed after him at an easy pace, while Duo rushed past him to Trowa's side, checking him over for injuries. The bite had already healed; as soon as Duo brushed away a bit of dried blood, there was nothing but smooth skin underneath. It could have been an illusion, but there were a lot of people in the station, and Trowa didn't have that look of concentration he usually were when he was trying to disguise things from others. Heero got the distinct impression it was more difficult for the shape-shifter when he was around, which gave him a perverse feeling of pleasure.

Duo glanced back at him nervously. His tail was twitching and he was whispering in what he thought was a low tone, “Should we take him to the club?”

Trowa sighed. “We brought him all the way here, and I know he's still hungry.” He didn't bother keep his voice down. When Duo gave him an indignant look Trowa just said, “He can hear us even if we whisper. Vampires have remarkable hearing.”

“Damn.”

“Why wouldn't you take me to the club?” Heero asked irritably. “And yes, I'm still hungry. That was barely even a snack back there.”

Duo made a face. “Well, Treize _did_ say he wanted to see you.”

Heero followed Duo up the stairs, where there was another machine that took his ticket and let him through. He wondered why people even bothered to pay – the bar could be jumped very easily, and the security guards around the place didn't look at all threatening. Of course, they were all Talentless human, no threat to a vampire like him unless they knew to put silver bullets in their guns. Judging by the general run-down state of the subway station, he doubted they had the budget for it.

He followed the pair up out of the station and into the night air. The city was alive – it pulsed with the heart beat of a million souls. This part of the city was relatively clean, but Heero's advanced sense of smell could still pick up the scent of garbage, the unwashed bodies of the homeless, the scent of the ocean overlain with the smell of rotting, stagnant water in the bay and too much entangled seaweed. The air was thick with pollution compared to Paris; there was a thick fog of it in the city. He could smell the chemical tang of factories further away, and the overpowering scent of _people_ , their various body scents mixing together, almost overwhelming him.

“Take our disguises down, Trowa.” Duo said, when they had walked a few blocks.

Heero shot Duo a sharp look. He knew Duo had said the mythological community wasn't underground here, but it still surprised him that Duo would want to openly flaunt their power. Trowa didn't look very happy about it either, but he complied. Their camouflage striped away, and Heero scowled as Trowa's form stretched upwards until he was almost a foot taller than Heero. He had made his fur long and white, which Heero thought was odd. He'd tasted Trowa's true form when he'd drunk his blood, and the form Trowa had now was not it. 

“We get in to the club for free because we draw a crowd.” Duo explained.

Heero gave him a once-over. He liked Duo's true form a lot better then the human disguise Duo wore most of the time. It was sexier, for one thing. Human's weren’t bad, but nothing could move as sensually as an incubus. They didn't even have to try – every movement they made screamed 'fuck me.' And he had a thing for red skin. Red was his favorite color, after all.

Since they had given all pretense of trying to blend in, Heero let his fangs out. He doubted anyone would be looking at him, not with Duo and Trowa with him, but it couldn't hurt. He grinned at the open stares they got as they strode down the street. There were a few faces that held disgust or fear, but most of the people watching showed only desire or lust. This was San Francisco after all. The city thrived on the abnormal and culturally inappropriate.

They turned onto a street that was lined with clubs. The street was packed with people of all ages heading to their favorite hangouts, and there were clubs to cater to all of them. Straight clubs, gay clubs, stripper joints, every neon sign boasted some special attraction, designed to lure their patrons inside. Duo passed them all.

At the very end of the street was a building that looked very out of place along a street with so much raucous color. The building was only three stories high, painted a very dark shade of gray. It had no neon lights, illuminated instead with low, yellow light under a dark, metal sign that said simply 'Séduction' in a elegant cursive engraving.

Two double door were swung wide, the entrance blocked off most of the way by red silk curtains The small glimpse of the interior was lit with more dim light; probably candlelight, and from it wafted the scent of expensive liquor, sex, and magic. Heero wondered what witch had spelled the doors; it was very tastefully done. If you weren't looking for it you wouldn't even notice the undercurrent of thought urging the casual onlooker towards this club, ushering you inside.

There was a section of the street roped off, with a full line of eager humans waiting to be admitted past the two grim-looking bouncers. They looked intimidating enough; one was a shape-shifter like Trowa who'd taken on a minotaur form, and the other was a half-ogre; not as stupid as a full ogre, but towering, bulky and green. Heero wasn't intimidated, but they did make much more impressive guards then the humans back at the subway station. They served their purpose – looking intimidating while ensuring they drew a crowd for the club all on their own.

Duo approached the ogre directly, not bothering to wait in line or talk to the shifter who was validating ID's. “Hey Franz. Let us in, would ja?”

The ogre didn't say anything, but he was clearly weighing Heero with his eyes. Heero wandered if he looked too intimidating, with his tattoos and his sword. He didn't know if he was allowed to bring it on with him, but he'd be damned if he was going to leave it behind. Finally the ogre dropped his gaze back to Duo. He shrugged, and moved out of the way, letting them brush past the silk curtain and enter the club.

“Real talkative guy.” Heero remarked dryly, speaking to cover the fact that he was checking out the club. It was done in a Victorian Gothic style – all black and red; candles and candelabras and silk everywhere. It should have come across as tacky, but it didn't. It reminded Heero of his lair back in the castle in Paris, and it made him want blood. There was a decent mix of humans and non humans here – a few other vampires, one laughing to her faerie companion and sipping from something that was probably not real blood in a wine glass.

“Franz can't talk. Something about all those overlapping teeth.”

“Most half-ogres find speech difficult.” Heero agreed absently, his eyes wandering to the bar. Another shape-shifter; female, in a bodice she'd probably had to have shifted to fit into working behind the counter. Her hair was an electric blue and she was pouring drinks for her customers with a toothy smile. Heero wondered if her blood would taste anything like Trowa's.

“Blood club's on the third floor.” Duo told him, and he realized he'd been staring. “I've never been to one in Europe, but it should be about the same. Just don't kill anyone, stop when they ask you to, and other then that you can feed as much as you like. Half the humans come here just for the blood club. I don't see the draw, myself, but I'm not a human or a vampire. Tro' and I have some stuff to take care of. Drink your fill and I'll introduce you to Treize later, okay?”

Duo was talking fast, and he had a smile on his face, but his tail was twitching anxiously. Trowa still hadn't abandoned his scowl, but whether that was because of the club, Heero's need for blood, or because something else was bothering him, Heero couldn’t' say. Whatever it was, they hadn't asked for his help and he had no interest in fixing the problems of someone who'd dragged Heero into his life unless he was forced into it. He took Duo's words at face value and took his leave from them. The staircase was in the back, and clearly lit, so he headed for it, pausing at the second floor long enough to confirm it was the dance floor – loud, full of flashing lights and the rumble of base, and way too much bare skin for Heero to even contemplate going in until his carnal needs were completely satisfied.

The third floor was well insulated, and even the pounding base from the floor below was quiet here. There was a crowd of humans socializing in what seemed to be a foyer. There was another small bar there, tended by a white haired fae this time, serving what smelled like fruity, non-alcoholic drinks. That was for the best, it was easy for a vampire to get drunk off of liquor in a human's blood stream, and getting drunk before drinking your fill was incredibly annoying. Heero strode through the humans directly to the back of the foyer, where there was a small mahogany reception station with an elegantly dressed human woman.

She was at least five foot seven, and had on heels that made her tower over Heero. She was wearing a tightly laced black corset over a long-sleeved velvet shirt, the swallowtail fabric falling gracefully over pillazzo pants. Her hair was jet black and had been ironed straight so it fell directly of her head and down her shoulders – a straight line contrasting with her many curves and drawing the eye to her face despite her ample bosom. Her brown eyes were lined with glittery black eyeliner, and her lips had been painted blood red. Heero wanted her instantly.

He smiled as he stepped up to the desk, not worrying about keeping his fangs hidden. “Hello. My name is Heero Yuy. I must compliment you on your establishment.” She was obviously the Madam of the house. “I have been to many clubs in Europe, especially Paris, but I have never visited one here in America before. I can only imagine yours puts the rest to shame.” He said formally.

She smiled, a predatory smile that would have done any vampire proud. She offered her hand for him to kiss, which he took and did so. Then she said, “Je m'appellé Angilique. Ceci est ma maison de la nuit. Nous ne pouvons pas espérer faire la concurrence à la grandeur de Paris, mais nous vous accueillons ici, pour pourvu que vous souhaitez rester.”*

“Your French is very good.” He murmured appreciatively. As a rule, the Madam of a house never participated in blood play activities herself, but Heero already knew if he came here often enough, she would find a way to join him. The heat in her eyes spoke of a desire for power, and there was lust there as well. He had that effect on other vampires and many humans. Nagi usually nagged him about it, reminding him to keep his power in check and not make a scene, bu the young telekinetic was not here to reign in his power now.

“It would please me to know how you run this house.” He said, not quite demanding her to allow him to feed as soon as possible.

She was apparently a shrewd reader of body language because she laughed. “There is a room free. It's our largest suite. From the looks my guests have been giving you, you'll need it. Follow me.”

Heero followed her swaying hips down the hall. There were eight rooms; four on the left and four on the right, with a larger suite on either end of the hall. She took him to the one on the right, unlocking it with a key she fished out of her corset. She pushed open the thick mahogany door to reveal a very tasteful, high end suite. The carpet was a thick rich brown, and covered the entire room. There were two deep red couches pushed together, with a glass coffee table with a vase on it full of roses. There were glass end tables on either side with large, white candles that had been lit to create a gentle ambiance.

On the left side of the room the wall was completely made of glass, from floor to ceiling. It was a two-way window, overlooking a breathtaking view of the city. Lights twinkled and flickered, a radiant, living creation painted against the dark landscape. There was a king size bed on the other side of the room, covered in brown silk sheets and featuring an ornately carved headboard. There was a lit fireplace between the bed and the glass wall, which added to the atmosphere and raised the temperature of the room enough to feel good against his cool skin.

“This is beautiful.” Heero murmured in very real appreciation. “Your house would be the envy of any house in Paris.”

“I'm glad you like it. You may relax wherever you please – I will send the first guest in a few moments, and I will continue to send them in until you indicate that you are finished.” She said gracefully.

His eyes strayed to the bed. Angelique saw him looking at it and laughed. “All of the humans come here to sleep with a vampire, and they pay handsomely for the privilege. Treat them well and you can drink your fill of blood for as long as you choose to come here.”

“Thank you, Angelique. I will.” He gave her a courtly bow, and she responded in kind. She left then, and he smiled to himself. Playing the European gentleman always amused him, and it seemed to go over well with the humans. Even though he wasn't European in origin at all, most humans expected vampires to act that way. Something to do with a book about Dracula, apparently.

He put down his sword against the wall near the fireplace, and settled himself down on the couch to wait. He wasn't there long before the door opened, and a slim, black haired teenager entered. Heero grinned, because even though the young man wasn’t his type, he could smell the power in his blood from across the room. The teen was a witch, and he was not a stranger to the blood club. Heero could see the fang marks on the insides of his arms and on his neck, some only a few days old. The young man was bold, striding across the room and sliding into Heero's lap. He reached a hand up into Heero's hair a pulled him down for a hungry kiss, and Heero let him. The young man tasted like blood and magic, and Heero wanted him.

“It's good to see you're not afraid.” Heero said, when the witch-boy released him.

“No, I'm not afraid.” He said softly. “My name is Adlar. My magic is strong; I come here to have it bled off several times a week. Most vampires like the taste of my blood, so Angelique sent me in to see if you did too.”

“You smell good.” Heero agreed. “Do you want me to fuck you?” He wasn't really into fucking kids that looked Nagi's age, but for taste of Adlar's blood, he'd do pretty much anything.

“You can if you want to.” Adlar said indifferently. “I can already tell you you'll get lost in my blood, and there's plenty of people who want to fuck you who's blood doesn't taste as good as mine.”

“No fucking then.” Heero said, and pulled the boy's head to the side so he could have better access to the boy's neck. Adlar let himself be pulled, a shudder of pleasure running through him when Heero brushed his neck with his lips.

Adlar was more then ready, so Heero didn't worry about trying to sooth him first, he just sank his fangs into the witch's neck. The teen had been right – his blood was intoxicating. Every kind of magic had its own unique flavor and the more powerful the magic, the stronger its effects on the vampire who drank it. The witch's magic was very strong, and Heero got lost in it, just as Adlar said he would. He was so powerful – Heero hadn't drunk from a magic user like this in ages.

Honestly, he was surprised a vampire hadn't bound the boy as a mortal servant yet. The boy's magic would keep them both young for a long time, and grand a lot of power to his vampire master. But maybe they didn't do things like that in America.

He was completely blood high by the time he finished drinking from the witch – his blood sang with the boy's power, the room spun with colors and sounds, every single one of his senses on overdrive. He thought he was laughing, but he couldn't tell. He hadn't been allowed to indulge himself like this in a very long time.

Adlar picked himself up of Heero's lap, and ran a hand through his hair fearlessly. He gave Heero one last parting kiss before letting himself out. “I'll find someone to fuck you.” He said, and left.

Three humans came in after him; their blood smelled normal, but all three of them were very attractive women, and they began stripping before the door even closed. Heero laughed again, enjoying looking at their sensuous curves, knowing what they wanted and being completely prepared to give it to them.

He let them pull him over to the bed and strip him, and then he fucked and fed off them until they were completely satisfied. When they left, more took their place, and Heero spent the next several hours indulging in sinful pleasures he hadn't experienced in several hundred years.

He sent the last human away with a sigh, and told them to inform Mistress Angelique that he required no more. He was finally full, and he collapsed against the bed, watching the world spin around him, totally and utterly spent. Heero looked up at the sound of the door opening again, propping himself up on his elbows so he could see who it was. It was Angelique. She was smiling, and crossed the room to sit on the bed beside him. He looked up at her, and tried to decide if she was offering anything, and if he was up to taking it.

“You have the largest appetite I've ever seen.” Angelique said. “Are all European vampires like you?”

“The older a vampire gets, the more demanding their needs for blood.” Heero said bluntly, shrugging. “I don't know how old the vampires you normally work with are, but I'm over six centuries old. I have a large appetite.”

“And yet Adlar's power still gets you high.” She smiled. “I don't usually let him visit newcomers – his blood is too much for some vampires. He insisted.”

“Adlar's magic is ...potent.” Heero agreed, easing himself back down on the bed, confident that she wasn’t coming on to him. She wasn't even staring at him, though he hadn't bothered to put on clothes or cover up at all. “I haven't been this high...in a while.”

“He comes here for relief from his powers.” She explained, not knowing that Adlar had already confessed this. “He is a very good friend of mine. He insisted on having you, and I think he will seek you out from now on. He said he felt almost normal after being with you. No one has ever leeched so much magic from his blood before.”

“I'm glad to help.” He said honestly. “Do you need me to leave?” He gestured to the room that now needed a good cleaning.

“Not right away. Rest as long as you like. I'll send someone in to clean when you are done. You are welcome in my house any time, Heero Yuy. I hope I will see you again.” She left, and Heero wondered if he'd passed some sort of test.

He stayed there for a while, just enjoying the feeling of being completely full. He felt like he could do anything – take on anyone. Even with half of his magic bound by his own hand, he felt more alive then ever.

Heero stretched, and felt the power running through his body, through his bones and coiled muscles. He stood in one fluid motion and gathered up his scattered clothes. Heero took his time getting dressed, looking out the wall of two-way glass at the lights. Even if he wanted to be back in Paris, he couldn't deny it was beautiful. He checked out his reflection in the glass, (apparently Angelique had gotten it spelled) and, satisfied, he picked up his sword, swung it across his back, and left the suite.

The foyer was much emptier then when he'd gone in, and Heero wondered just how many humans he'd slept with. He hoped it was good for Angelique's business – if he came regularly, it would draw a larger crowd. With the opportunity to feed as much as he wanted on a regular basis, Heero thought he'd probably be spending a lot of his free time here.

He stopped at the second floor again on his way back down, but decided he still didn't want to go in. He appreciated the way skilled dancers move their bodies, but his oversensitive sight and hearing usually kept him from enjoying raves. Still, it provided a good outlet for human and non humans alike, and Heero watched them dance their cares away for a few minutes before going back to the first floor.

The blue haired shape-shifter was still there at the bar, and Heero headed over and took a seat at the bar. He had no desire to go searching through the club for Duo and Trowa – he was hoping that the bartender would know where they were.

He waited patiently for her to finish serving the two humans she was pouring drinks for. He knew she would get to him eventually, and he assumed his job was to draw a crowd here as well. Between his fangs, tattoos, and the aura of power that he knew he exuded, more then one human left their mingling and headed to the bar to get a drink, if only so they could pose and smile and bat their eyes at him, most too afraid to approach him directly.

“You're new here.” The bartender said, when she came over to him. “Been up on the third floor?”

“Yes. It was...exquisite.” Heero said, flashing his fangs.

The bartender laughed. “Angelique takes great pride in her work.”

“She does an excellent job.”

“So, you just want something alcoholic?” She asked. “We carry blood on tap. It's not as good as fresh, but a lot of my vampire customers like an extra kick in their drinks.”

“I'll take whatever you recommend.” He said sincerely.

“Alright then.” She mixed him something fruity and colorful – it was orange and yellow, and then she put two shots of bright red blood into it. Apparently whatever magic they used to spell the blood kept it fresh enough to retain its color.

“One bloody Tropical Sunset for you.” She set the drink in front of him, and then smirked, plopping in a cherry and a tiny umbrella.

“Thank you.” Heero said, unperturbed by the girly fruit drink. It was alcoholic and it had blood in it; that was good enough for him.

“I was also wondering if you could help me find my friends – Trowa and Duo? I came in with them. Trowa's a white shape-shifter and Duo's an incubus.”

The bartender's face faltered for a moment. “Um...well, they're probably in the dungeon right now. You can wait here for them until they’re done.”

“The dungeon?” Heero said icily, setting his drink down so he wouldn't shatter the glass in his hand.

“They do private performances down there.” She explained quietly. “People pay a lot to get in.”

“And how do I get there?” He ground out between clenched teeth. Private _shows?_ What the hell had Duo roped him into?

She pointed to her right. Across the room three was the beginning of a spiral staircase set into the floor, with a menacing looking vampire guarding he entrance, and another roped of queue, shorter then the others in the club, with very rich looking humans waiting in it. Heero snarled and rose, not remembering to thank the bartender for his drink before stalking over to the dungeon entrance.

The only thing he hated as much as the thought of being stuffed into his silver coffin was humans taking advantage of mythological creatures for their own pleasure. People wanted to stare, fine. If they wanted to fuck; fine, as long as it was mutual. But if 'private shows' meant what Heero thought it did – humans paying some sick bastard for the privilege of watching mythologicals fuck -

His blood boiled, and he seethed inside his bindings, keeping his fury just under the level that would trigger his collar. Really, with Duo, what else could it be? He was an incubus.

The vampire guard opposed him entering the dungeon for all of three seconds before the wave of Heero's power rolled over him, and he shrank back from Heero, cowering before Heero's vampiric aura. The vampire was barely two centuries old – he could not bar Heero's way. When some of the humans tried to enter the staircase behind him, Heero snarled at them, baring his teeth in an ugly expression. They retreated from the unmasking of the predator that Heero was, sheep suddenly realizing the danger of the wolf they'd been fawning over.

He descended the stairs with one hand on his sword hilt. When he reached the bottom, he had to stop for a moment and lean against the wall as his binding kicked in from the blinding rage that welled up inside of him. He fought it down and straightened himself, looking out at the scene before him.

It was exactly what he'd feared. The dungeon was a large room, bigger then the rest of the club put together. The walls and floor had all been finished with stone to create the feeling of a cave – there were even realistic looking stalactites hanging from the ceiling. A cloud of smoke a foot high wafted through the room, generated by magic rather then a fog machine. Every twenty or thirty feet there was a pedestal, and on those pedestals were mythologicals, trapped in cages for human amusement.

The closest to him was a blue nymph, completely naked, in a cage made of spidery silver wire, with a pole in the middle of the cage. She spun and twirled on the pole, a seductive grin pasted on her features, but her eyes were terrified. Beyond her was a fairy girl in a glass rectangle, and past her was Adlar, the witch boy Heero had fed on earlier. He was wearing a collar and nothing else, and he was also on display in a cage, working magic on the crowd around him while they stared and drooled over his perfectly sculpted pale body.

That almost broke Heero. He had the boy's _blood_ in him. They had shared the most intimate experience a vampire could give – his fang marks were still visible in the boy's neck for fuck's sake! He bit the inside of his lip to keep himself from screaming in rage and forced himself to keep going. He had to find Duo and Trowa. An incubus would warrant a much bigger spot in this room then a faerie girl or witch boy, so Heero headed for the center of the room with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew what he was going to find, and he didn’t like it.

In the very center of the room was an altar, higher up then the rest of the 'displays.' Trowa and Duo were on it, fucking. Heero raised a hand to his mouth to fight down the bloody bile that rose in his throat. There was no glass or bars or mesh; nothing to protect them even a little from the stares of the people watching them. Heero could smell the human's arousal as they watched Duo fuck Trowa into the altar, and it made him want to cut each and every one of their hearts out.

Duo was high off the sexual energy in the room; Heero could see that his eyes were glassy and unfocused, barely even open and definitely not aware of what was going on around him. He might not have enjoyed it at first – Heero couldn’t really tell – but his body was enjoying it now. It would be like someone force feeding Heero blood – even if he didn't want it at first, his body's lust would take over eventually. Sex for Duo was the same. He needed it; he thrived on it. It was a drug he couldn't live without.

Trowa looked miserable. Heero knew how self-conscious he was; most shape-shifters were, which was way they constantly changed their appearances. He'd caught a glimpse of Trowa's soul during the moments he'd been feeding off him, and this disgusting display was not something that Trowa wanted. Trowa wasn’t meant to be this open, this _exposed_ to anyone, especially not human strangers. He also knew that if Duo had asked, Trowa wouldn't say no, and neither of them knew it was a forced consent. Trowa would hate it, not understand why he'd said yes, but would think he'd agreed to what was basically rape.

And Duo wouldn’t know anything was wrong. His sexual nature and his unknown bond with Trowa would keep him from seeing it. Heero wondered how many times they'd one this, and wondered how Trowa could manage not to hate his master.

“They're beautiful, aren't they?” A voice asked at his ear.

Heero jumped, barely restraining the impulse to kill whoever had just approached him. It was a human – a wizard with immense power. He was tall; over six feet, and had light brown hair that swept back over his head and startling blue eyes that crackled with power. He was magically tied to Duo; he was feeding off Duo's magic and making it his own. The man was also feeding off the magic of everyone in this room; feeding off the lust of the humans and the humiliation and fear of the mythicals he had locked up.

“Treize.” Heero said stiffly, realizing who this must be. This sick bastard was on the American council, he was responsible for this atrocity. He had to die.

“Treize Khushrenada.” The man replied with a flourish. “You must be the vampire Duo brought me.” He said, reaching a hand to Hero's cheek. Heero flinched away, anger flashing in his eyes. Treize laughed.

“I suppose I can't expect him to have tamed you already. It will come in time. His brother Solo took almost a year to break his vampire, but Zechs was subdued eventually. Your skin is warm, did you enjoy the blood club?”

“Angelique is an amazing woman.” Heero said. He wondered if she had ever been down here. He wondered if she knew her beautiful witch boy was selling his soul to Treize.

“That she is.” Treize agreed. He looked back up at the altar. “They're going to take a while. Enjoy yourself until then.” He turned to go.

Heero latched onto his wrist, pulling him back. Treize chuckled darkly, and turned back to him. Heero reached up and yanked Treize's head down to his, drawing him into a kiss. Treize was as big a pervert as Heero was hoping, and he opened his mouth to Heero greedily. There was blood on Heero's tongue from where he'd bitten himself earlier, and he forced his blood into Treize's mouth. He pulled away once he was sure he'd gotten all of it into Treize, and resisted the urge to spit the taste of Treize out of his mouth.

“Well.” Treize said. “Maybe there's hope for you after all.” Unhindered by Herero now, he moved through the crowd to get a better view of his centerpiece.

Heero moved away quickly, gagging on the taste of Treize in his mouth. He didn't want anything of that man inside him, but the taste helped him get a hook into Treize, a way for Heero's magic to connect an overpower Treize's own magic without the wizard even knowing what happened. He staggered back upstairs and headed straight to the bar. He must have looked terrible, because the shape-shifter poured him a shot of whiskey without even asking.

“It's horrible, isn't it.” She said.

“Yes.” He had a mental grip on the blood in Treize's body now. He maneuvered it towards vein that would take Heero's blood right to Treize's heart. He only had a few drops of blood to work with, but it was enough.

“I'm sorry.” She whispered, and poured him another shot.

“Why do you work here then?” Heero asked. His blood was in the right vein now, racing to Treize's heart.

“Not a lot of places I _can_ work.” She said. “We are supposed to have equal rights and all that, but we don’t. I should have stayed hidden as a human, but I got all caught up in the movement and identified as a shape-shifter. Most places won't even hire me now, even in San Francisco.”

It was a story he'd heard often in Europe. In public, the politicians and celebrities and CEO's were all for equal rights and opportunities, but in real life, mythical beings were shunned and feared, and kept from all but the most demeaning jobs if they identified their race publicly. Most of them ended up as servants for vampire nobles, or found themselves trapped in the underground slave trade.

Apparently America was no different. He drank his shot, moving the blood he controlled around in Treize's heart. He held his glass out for another shot, and the bartender refilled it. With a mental flick, the blood he controlled separated into half a dozen hard, sharp needles. He flexed his hand and the blood needles shot out of Treize's heart, ripping the muscle to shreds. He downed his shot and leaned back, closing his eyes and savoring the feeling of Treize's magic spasming and then fading away. He heard screams coming from downstairs and couldn't help a small smile.

Treize Khushrenada was dead.

Chapter 5

Nagi had risen to find Schuldich waiting for him in his hotel room. He hadn't even opened his mouth to yell at the telepath when Heero's mind had captured his. He'd almost blacked out from the sudden mental connection, and probably would have if Schuldich hadn't taken over. The telepath wasn't connected to Heero's mind for long, but it was enough to completely shatter Schuldich's mental defenses. Nagi held Schuldich's hair while he vomited into the hotel's fancy trash can, and kept the acid comment he'd been about to say to himself.

He spent the next several hours nursing an incredibly miserable Schuldich while the telepath struggled to get his shields back up around the press of every mind in Paris. He had to excuse himself to go find someone to eat for a few hours, and was grateful for the respite. Schuldich was a miserable bitch when he was suffering.

Originally he'd planned on going hunting - finding some nice human and convincing them to come back to his hotel room for a night of feeding and fucking. Things had been shit since Heero had been taken and he needed the stress relief. Life had other plans. He ended up going to a blood club down the street. It was basically a fast food joint for vampires; he'd had to pay for the blood, since none of the humans who went there went for any reason other than selling their blood for as much money as they could. Normally, he didn't feel guilty about feeding. He was a vampire now; he had to feed if he wanted to survive. But there was something about exchanging money for blood from a disinterested human with a blank stare that just made him feel dirty.

When he returned, Schuldich had mostly pulled himself together. He was sitting in Nagi's unused hotel bed, pale, but conscious. He was drinking an overpriced bottle of orange juice that he'd pilfered from Nagi's hotel room mini-fridge, and didn't look disturbed at all by the fact that Nagi would have to pay for it. He looked up at Nagi's flushed face and grew irritated.

“If you'd wanted blood, you could have just had mine.” Schuldich said, after giving him a once-over. If it wasn't obvious from Nagi's skin that he'd just eaten, and he tried to lie about it, Schuldich would have pulled the truth out of his thoughts anyways.

“I'm not drinking your blood. We're not together. I'm not going to sleep with you so I sure as hell wouldn't want to feed off you!” Nagi said. He didn't mention that he never wanted Schuldich to ever see him feed. If he'd had his way, Schuldich never would have found out he'd been turned.

But Schuldich was not going to let this go. “It was one time Nagi. I said I was sorry! When are you going to stop sulking about it?”

Nagi snarled, “ _ **Sulking?**_ You think I'm sulking?!”

“Of course you are. Stuck the way you are, you're going to be an emotional wreck forever!” Schuldich snapped, and motioned to his head, like he was commenting on the dark mix of emotions and thoughts that were running through Nagi's mind.

“Just because I'm stuck in a teenager's body does not mean I'm _a child_.” Nagi said dangerously. People always assumed because he was a teenage vampire that he would be whiny and emotional. No matter how old he got, they continued to look down on him for it. Schuldich was not an exception.

“No, but it influences your feelings. You even said so yourself. So why won't you just forgive me? It's been a whole damned century!” Schuldich looked extremely upset, like it was Nagi's fault, after all this time.

“You slept with my enemy! The man I hate most in the _entire world!_ And you didn't even do it for a reason – it didn't even _mean_ anything! You just did it because he has a dick and he offered. Please tell me how I am supposed to forgive that.” Nagi said, his entire face contorting in rage. He wanted to pick Schuldich up and slam him into the nearest wall.

“I said I was _sorry!_ ” Schuldich said again, like it should make everything better.

“It wasn't good enough then, and it isn't good enough now.”

“Why?!” He asked, sincerely.

“Because he _Fell_ for you.” A mocking voice taunted them from the hotel doorway. “Now if you two are done bitching at each other, Oracle wants to see you.”

Nagi whirled to face the object of his hate, standing there in the door. Farfarello was only five-foot six, but he was slim, muscular, and deadly. He was dressed completely in white – white bondage pants with a strap dangling between his legs, a white vest, and his short-cropped white hair. His black eye patch and remaining yellow eye stood out against his pale, scar littered skin. He was the most powerful Leech ever; he'd been found (some said _created_ ) by Oracle and raised to be a killer. The Councils had their Inquisitors, but Farfarello answered only to Crawford. He killed anyone and anything Oracle asked him to – demon, mythical, or human. And he'd fucked Schuldich, just to prove that he could.

“ _ **You**_.” Schuldich scowled. Nagi could feel the tension on the air – hell, he _was_ the tension.

There was a brief mental scuffle as Schuldich attempted to rip Farfarello's mind to shreds, and Farfarello held him off with his own gift. Farfarello was as powerful as the strongest mythical he'd met – no training needed, he could use their gift like it was his own and to perfection, even if the one he was leeching off didn't know how to use their power. Schuldich was the best telepath, so Farfarello couldn't beat him mentally, but he wouldn't lose either.

Schuldich gave up after only a few minutes. “Wait, what did you say?” He asked, putting aside his hatred for a moment to focus on the matter at hand.

Farfarello smirked. He'd known Schuldich wouldn't be able to pass that up. He always knew how everyone else worked; what they wanted most. And he used that knowledge for his own personal gain; in this case, distracting Schuldich and hurting Nagi.

“I said, he **Fell** for you.” Farfarello said, emphasizing the capital letter. “He wasn't sentenced to death, like he told you. Our little angel Raziel practically _dove_ out of heaven to save you.”

“You-”

“He gave up his immortal soul for you, and you threw it away. He'll never forgive you.” Farfarello's eye glittered with dark amusement, and he dared Nagi to contradict him. But Nagi couldn't, because he was right.

xxx

**Roughly Six Hundred Years Ago...**

He'd always watched Schuldich, since the moment the sun god, Amaterasu, gave birth to a half-human child. At first, the other angels had watched him too – they were curious about Amaterasu's child. But as the years passed, they all moved on to watching other mortals and mythical beings.

Raziel had never stopped. Angels didn't really spend much time analyzing emotions, but he realized now that he had fallen in love with Schuldich. He had saved the young man from death twice already, and had been punished severely each time. They were not to interfere in the life of those in the world below, and the only reason he had not been punished more was because Schuldich was a demi-god.

Angels mate for life – they have a specific soul mate, and usually found them among other angels, or among the dead. Raziel didn't even realize what Schuldich was for him, until it was too late. After the second interference, Raziel had been reassigned to a combat division, to keep him occupied and away from his beloved. He was assigned to fighting the spreading evil of Amatsu Mikaboshi and his minions. The gods usually did not take sides – they had no concept of 'good' and 'evil.' Everything simply 'was.'

Then Mikaboshi had abandoned that ideal and become truly evil. He threatened the balance of all life, and challenged the other gods, so they had retaliated to preserve it.

Little did they know this would bring Raziel back into Schuldich's life several centuries down the road. Schuldich had been born to, and raised by, his father in what would become known as Germany. He knew he was the son of a god, and once his human family and friends had passed away, Schuldich had grown restless. He had eventually gone to Japan to learn about his roots, and had fallen right into Amatsu Mikaboshi's plans.

Schuldich visited both Buddhist and Shintoist temples in his quest to learn more about his spiritual self. While Amaterasu was a Shintoist deity, monks of any order were spiritual, and recognized the power Schuldich was descended from. At one of these temples, there was a man named Nagi Naoe. He was still a _kanbe,_ or acolyte at the temple and not considered a man by the order - though he was fourteen and had completed his manhood ceremony. Schuldich had grown fond of the man, and had stayed at the temple long past the time he'd planned on leaving. Unfortunately, as Nagi entered his sixteenth year and finally attained the rank of _Hafuri_ , he also attracted the attention of Amatsu Mikaboshi.

Mikaboshi destroyed the temple and possessed Nagi, luring Schuldich into the desecrated alter room where he planned to sacrifice him to gain power. Nagi's body, having just become a priest and not being exceptionally strong spiritually, gave out under the weight of Mikaboshi's power and began to die. Mikaboshi left Nagi's body so that he wouldn't die along with the boy's body, assuming his natural spiritual form; difficult to sustain on the mortal plane, but infinitely more powerful than a forced possession. Schuldich had tried to protect them once he understood what was happening, but while he knew about his godly powers, he did not know how to use them.

Schuldich was going to die and Raziel knew that if he didn't do something, his beloved would be lost forever. He couldn't bear the thought of his beloved's spiritual energy feeding Mikaboshi's insatiable evil. So he had disobeyed every order his superior officers had given him, and had leapt from heaven knowing he would probably never return. There was no price too great to pay if it kept his beloved alive.

Landing had been traumatic. All of mortality had assaulted his senses and he had been unable to do anything but lay there, dazed for a few moments. Mikaboshi had laughed at him when he'd forced his dying body to its feet and faced his enemy. He hadn't stood a chance. Mikaboshi had taken him down easily, ripping his wings out of his back and leaving him there on the cold temple floor to die. He was overwhelmed with the amount of pain a mortal being could experience, and could only lay there next to Nagi, struggling to survive.

Nagi had reached out to him, touched his hand and allowed Raziel to see into his soul. The man knew he was dying. He also knew that Raziel was a spirit, and believed that Amaterasu had sent Raziel to protect her son from the evil that wanted to consume him. He wanted Raziel to take his own body and destroy Mikaboshi before he could kill the man they both loved. So Raziel had abandoned his fallen, immortal body and taken the body of Nagi Naoe for his own. The man's spirit didn't even resist, it slipped off to the afterlife, allowing Raziel to take over his body completely.

Having a mortal body allowed Raziel to channel his immortal gifts on this plane of existence, and he picked up his own scattered wings from the floor, brandishing them as swords against his enemy. He couldn't kill Mikaboshi, but he did drive the demon away with his magic. Then he had gone to Schuldich's side and kissed him, giving away all of his immortal life. He passed out after the transfer, without knowing he would never be able to leave the borrowed body and never be able to return home. But it had been worth it. Schuldich had lived.

xxx

Raziel woke up in a bed, some time later. He had no idea where he was, of course, but it looked to be some kind of temple, though very obvious not the one he'd blacked out in. At first he was surprised to see that he was still in Nagi's borrowed body. He should have been kicked out, or 'died' and been driven to hell, or simply evaporated. Then he tried to leave Nagi's body, and found that he couldn't. He was stuck – his soul had attached itself to this body permanently. He had an immortal soul and a mortal body. This body would never grow old, never grow in size or age, never tire or grow weak, and unless this body was destroyed, he could never die. He was a prisoner in this mortal realm.

“I see you're awake.” A voice came from next to him. A very European looking man was sitting next to the bed, which confused the hell out of Raziel. He wasn't perfect with human current events, but he was pretty sure that Europeans were not encouraged to be in Japan. Schuldich, being the son of Amaterasu, was an obvious exception.

“I am.” He said, reservedly. He had no idea who this mortal was, how much he knew, or what he wanted from Nagi. Or Raziel. Or whatever he was now.

“Schuldich is fine.” The man said before he could even ask. If Raziel didn't know better, he'd have said the man had read his mind.

“My name is Bradly Crawford, but you will only hear me referred to as the Oracle.” He said smoothly. He had a ridiculously pompous name. “I know that your kind has been fighting Mikaboshi, but so have we.”

Raziel knew when he'd said 'your kind,' that he knew what Raziel was. He also knew that he didn't mean humans when Oracle had said 'we.' The human populace remained blissfully unaware of the spiritual battle going on around them, even if they prayed to the spirits and guardians who were fighting it. No, he meant the god-touched, the high level priests, priestesses, monks, shamans, and other holy people who had attained enlightenment or other spiritual awareness, the sons and daughters of gods and all of the mythological species that had come to be from the mixing of the spiritual and physical realms. Based on his title, this man was supposed to be a seer – a human or demi-god with the ability to read the future. Not even many gods had that kind of power.

“I was Raziel.” He admitted, knowing there was no point in denying it. “I don't know what I am now.”

“You Fell.” The Oracle said. “And you now inhabit the body of Nagi Naoe.”

“He's dead.” Raziel felt compelled to tell him. “His spirit has departed.”

Oracle looked at him. “Then there is no reason for you not to assume his name. I have seen you using it.”

“And what am I doing in the future?” He asked warily. He would kill this body before he would become a slave or pawn to anyone – human, demi-god, or otherwise.

“Amatsu Mikaboshi must be stopped.” Oracle said flatly. “We have been planning his imprisonment for a long time. It is almost impossible to kill a god – we do not have the power, and I know your kind has tried and failed. Therefore, he must be imprisoned.”

Raziel let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Yes, he would be willing to work with this man to ensure Mikaboshi would be imprisoned forever. “Do you have a vessel for his imprisonment?”

The Oracle didn't answer him directly. He smiled and said, “Farfarello, Schuldich.”

Two people stepped through the cloth door covering. One was Schuldich and Raziel's heart grew lighter just looking at him. He still looked a little pale, but he walked easily into the room and took a place at Raziel's side.

“Oracle tells me you saved my life.” Schuldich said. “You wear Nagi's shape. Is he-”

“I'm sorry. He's gone.” Raziel said softly. “He gave me this body to protect you. If I may, I would like to take his name, to honor his spirit.”

Schuldich looked uneasy for a moment, then sighed and nodded firmly. “He would have liked that. Thank you...Nagi.”

Raz-Nagi smiled at him, but he was watching the other person who had entered. It was a pale, white-haired youth with only one yellow, glowing eye. The other was stitched shut, but it didn't lessen his gaze. If anything, it made his eyes look more frightening. He could only assume this was Farfarello. The youth had a demon's name, and it was entirely appropriate because the body the demon wore was not human; it lacked the living energy a human body would produce.

Somehow, someone had created a vessel and trapped a powerful demon inside. The demon couldn't escape any more then Nagi could; it was bound in that body until death. But it had not been redeemed, only constrained. The demon knew who and what he was. He could feel Farfarello weighing and judging him just as he did.

“A vessel like that will not hold Mikaboshi.” Nagi said flatly, glaring at the demon.

“No.” Oracle said. “We will need a much stronger vessel than that. I know the binding ritual, and we have gathered enough of us together to cast it. Once he is contained, Schuldich will wipe the vessel's mind; setting up a new personality that will keep him from remembering that he has a god inside of him. There will be other bindings and precautions, but we cannot do this without Schuldich's power and the right vessel.”

“So again, who is your vessel?”

“Farfarello, bring them in.”

The white haired demon stepped out, and then a young man, his face tanned from many days under the sun, dressed in the robes and turbans of the nomadic people to the far west of here. A shock of blonde hair was visible under his turban. It was rare for the nomadic people to be blonde, and almost unheard of for them to be so far east. That, combined with the small tattoo on his neck confirmed that he had once been a slave; that was probably how he ended up here in Japan.

He was in charge now. He led another man into the room. The man was relatively short, with Japanese features, but his eyes were blue and his hair short, brown and messy. He must have been born of mixed blood, though it was impossible to say what kind. He was a vampire; an incredibly old one based on the power Nagi felt coming off of him. His hands were bound with silver, and he had a defeated slump to his shoulders, his eyes cold and dead. He must be the Oracle's vessel.

“This is Shaikh 'Ali, brother to the former sultan of Persia. He was instrumental in capturing our vessel.”

Shaikh turned to them and began describing the vampire the way one would describe furniture. “This vampire had been known by many names, but his most current name is Ashikaga Hiro.”

The Ashikaga family was the current ruling family in Japan. They had waged a particular bloody civil war that had split the country in two. The Ashikagas had eventually won, pushing back the rival family and assuming power. Having a vampire like Hiro on their side would have been key in victory against the rival Emperor.

“They betrayed me.” Hiro said, his voice flat and cold. “I have waged war for over a thousand years, and have always been rewarded for it. But though they saw fit to use me at the time, as soon as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu assumed power, they called me an evil spirit, and had the monks take me away.”

“So you're going to be the vessel we use to trap Mikaboshi?” Nagi asked.

“I am scheduled for execution at sunrise. If my body can be useful, instead of turning to ashes, then it should be used.”

Oracle turned to Nagi. “Do you think his body is strong enough?”

“Yes. He has been around a long time. His body is infused with old magic. As a vampire, he is already essentially a soul occupying a body that is no longer his. It will make the possession easier. Since it had never been done, I cannot say for sure, but I believe his body can hold Mikaboshi's spirit.

“Good.” Oracle said. “Shaikh, please see to it that Hiro is brought to the altar room at the appropriate time. We will begin the ceremony at sunrise.”

“He will be there.” Shaikh's eyes were filled with malice as he gazed at the vampire, and he was not gentle as he forced the vampire from the room.

Just before they were beyond Nagi's sight the vampire turned, and looked into Nagi's eyes. He looked at Nagi as if he knew what Nagi was, as if he could feel Nagi's purifying emotions. His eyes were lit with longing, and regret, and a deep, deep sorrow. Then he wrenched his gaze away from Nagi, and all emotion left him. His eyes grew cold and hollow once more and Nagi realized that though his execution wasn't until the following day, the vampire was already dead.

Chapter 6

Once the initial bout of screaming was over, Heero judged it was safe to head back down to the dungeon. He pushed aside the still terrified mortals and raced down the stairs. The basement was a mill of chaos. Most of the mortals had fled, but the mythicals were still stuck in their cages, terrified, and reeling from the backlash of the mage who'd been siphoning off their magic. The entire place reeked of Treize's blood – the death Heero had chosen for him was not subtle or tidy, and Heero didn't regret that one bit.

He ripped the silver filigree away from the nymph, ignoring the lancing pain that went through his arm as the silver bit into his flesh. She climbed out, sobbing gratefully to him. He held her awkwardly for a few minutes before heading towards Adlar's cage. He ripped the silver bars apart savagely and lifted the witch boy out of the cage. Adlar was barely conscious – as a true magic user, the backlash had affected him more then the others. Heero cradled him in his arms, torn between checking on Duo and Trowa and staying with the boy who'd shared his blood with Heero willingly. Adlar wasn't his servant, but while his blood was running through Heero's veins, the vampire felt responsible for him. He didn't have to agonize long – Angelique appeared, and held out her arms to take him.

“I guess you knew he was coming here.” Heero said.

“I couldn't stop him. I filed many complaints to the council, but since Treize was the head council member, no one listened. I also tried the human authorities, but they are easily swayed by glamors. What else could I do?” She said sadly, and took Adlar from him.

“Take care of him.” Heero said. He didn't add anything to her moral quandary. He'd like to say that she could have done more, but aside from murdering Treize, he didn't think anything else would have stopped him.

“I will.”

Heero made his way to the altar, stopping to tear open cages as he went. He could have used his magic to rip open all of them at once, but it would be better for him not to attract any more attention.

Treize had apparently been standing right next to the altar when Heero had killed him. His body was sprawled on the ground in front of it, and blood was spattered up to four feet away. Heero avoided looking at the altar at first, freeing two sobbing faeries from their cages. They had blood spattered on then, and Heero felt guilty for the briefest moment before hardening his heart. It had to be done.

He avoided the body; there were already several people examining the remains, though Heero couldn't have said if they worked for the Council or the police. He didn't want any of them questioning him, not yet at least. As a vampire, he'd be near the top of the list – the top of the list if there were not voodoo priests practicing here.

Trowa and Duo were still on the altar, though Trowa had pulled their human disguises back up, and he'd either illusioned their clothes, or they'd gotten them from wherever they'd taken them off. Duo was almost covered in blood – Treize had probably been standing very close when Heero had killed him. Heero's gut twisted at that thought. If he could, he'd resurrect that bastard and kill him all over again. Luckily for Treize's corpse, all magic users were cremated to prevent such a thing.

Duo was sobbing into Trowa's arms, he was just as terrified as any of the other mythicals here. Heero was glad he was still conscious, after the state Adlar had been in, he'd expected Duo to be catatonic.

“Are you alright?” Heero managed to ask.

Trowa looked up sharply at his words – he'd been focused on Duo and nothing else. Seeing Heero here must have made him incredibly uncomfortable, even though he had no way of knowing if Heero knew what they were doing here. Though it wasn't hard to guess.

Duo's reaction was much less subtle. He practically threw himself at Heero, clinging onto him with arms that shook and were cold as ice against Heero's skin. An equally cold chill knifed it's way down Heero's spine.

Duo started babbling immediately. “Oh god, you're okay! I didn't know if you would be – I was so worried about it. Trowa's magic is nearly gone too and I thought with our bond it might have done something terrible to you-”

“I'm fine.” Heero cut him off. “What are you talking about?”

“My magic. It's gone. I – fuck, I'm practically human now. But it's not good – I feel all cold inside, kinda like when we flew over the ocean, except I'm not sick. One minute we were – well – and then it was like someone sucked my soul out, and then everyone was screaming and I was covered in blood – fuck, I'm still covered in blood!” He was trembling violently, the whites in his eyes showing and his eyes rolling around, his hands twitching, and if Heero didn't do something it looked like Duo was seriously going to lose it.

“Here, allow me.” Heero refused to absorb any blood that had belonged to Treize, but it wasn't hard to pull the blood off of Duo's skin and direct it to the floor. Trowa had specks of blood on his face as well, and Heero pulled those away for him as well. He regarded the blood grimly, but he didn’t say anything about its removal.

“Your arms – they're all cut up!” Duo exclaimed focusing on Heero instead of looking at the body.

“I was helping people out of those cages.” Heero said, and didn't hide the anger in his voice. “I can heal a lot easier then most of them could, not that many have the strength to break out on their own.”

“If you let me borrow your sword, I'll go free the rest of them.” Trowa offered, clearly wanting to get away from Heero's scrutiny.

“...alright.” Heero agreed reluctantly, unstrapping and handing it to Trowa hilt-first.

The shape-shifter took it with all the respect that Heero's sword demanded, and left to go liberate the other victims of Treize's lust. Heero pulled Duo to his feet and helped him move across the room to the wall, as far away from Treize's remains as possible.

“We should probably stay.” Heero explained. “They will want to speak with you and Trowa.”

“Oh...yeah.” Duo shifted, tugging on Heero's arm until the vampire obliged and sat on the floor, then climbing up into this lap and laying against Heero's chest. He was still trembling with reaction.

“I guess it would look suspicious if we left, huh?” Heero murmured a word of agreement, before falling silent, studying the situation at hand. He honestly couldn't decide if he was comfortable with Duo's sudden, sexual and emotional interest in him. When he'd first met Duo, he'd been incredibly attracted to him, and that hadn't just been because he was an incubus. Duo was very good looking, and had all of the physical features that Heero desired in a sexual partner. Since then, he'd had many conflicting reactions to how he felt about Duo. Part of him still despised the incubus, but most of him – the part of him that had a lap full on incubus who reeked of sex, well, that part of him was enjoying the contact quite a bit.

Finally Heero addressed the matter he was sure Duo didn't want to discuss, but had to be addressed. “When you said you worked for Treize, this wasn’t at all what I was picturing.” Heero said, as tactfully as he could manage.

Duo colored, and buried his face in Heero's shoulder. His words were muffled, and wavered with what might be tears. “It uh...well, originally it wasn't about that. But since I'm an incubus, Treize sort of – requested me. And I can't say no to the head of the council. And Trowa refused to let me work with anyone else. So. Yeah.”

“What he made you do was illegal.” Heero said flatly. “By human _and_ council law, unless the laws here are vastly different. And bonding another mythical against their will is punishable by death.”

“Death? No, not here. Well, officially maybe. But it's never enforced.”

Heero glowered. “That's disgusting. It's worse then rape,and even humans know enough to make that illegal.”

Duo looked up at Heero warily. “I didn’t know. That it was that...severe to you. Almost all the oldest mythicals I know have their own private mythical or human servants. I mean, I knew you wouldn’t _like_ it, I guess, but my brother has two bonded, and they actually get along pretty well. At least it seems like they do. Shit. I'll release you as soon as I can Heero.”

“It's alright for now.” Heero said. “I am a special case. Since there are no bonds t hold me here, and since all my Guardians are in Europe, I need your bond to keep the Council here, or the European Council, from trying to execute me, or stick me in that coffin. But. I _don't_ appreciate being under a compulsion. It's degrading, you should know that.”

“I-I won't use it on you. I promise.” Duo said solemnly.

Heero looked away from him , to where Trowa was stalking around the room, trying very hard not to be noticed. His magic must have been very drained as well – Heero couldn’t feel him trying any illusions. Most likely, all that was working was his personal camouflage. Trowa hadn't wanted to be here, he hadn't wanted to have sex in a public place. But he'd done it anyway, because at one point, Duo had asked him and he couldn't refuse.

“Don't make promises you can't keep.”

They said nothing more until Trowa re-joined them, bringing Heero back his sword. “It's not good, Duo.” Trowa told them. “Noin is here, she was practically first on the scene. They're officially waiting for Quatre, but she is blaming Zechs.”

that caught Duo's attention. “Zechs? But he's with Solo.” Duo turned to Heero. “Zechs is my brother's vampire.” then he realized what he’d said, and his face fell. “Well, uh. Anyway. They're not even in the state, so Zechs couldn’t do anything.”

“No.” Trowa disagreed. “They got back yesterday.

“Damn.” Duo grimaced. “Does she know we're here yet?”

'She will soon.” Trowa sighed, and sat down next to them, leaning over and putting his head on Heero's shoulder. Heero stared at him in amazement before he realized what was going on. Even though Duo had been drained of his magic, they had both been under the influence of his sex magic. Instead of sating sexual desire, incubus magic only heightened sexual awareness and need. Essentially, they were both still horny, and Heero was very sexy if he did say so himself.

“So. This woman doesn't like you?” He asked.

“Not at all.” Trowa said. “She's a dark elf and is Treize's personal servant.”

Heero scowled. Duo was telling the truth – they really did seem to be alright with the subjugation of another mortal here.

“She used to be Zechs lover, until Solo bound him. Now she hated Zechs, solo, his fire wench, and Duo and I. Since you're a vampire, you'll be right at the top of her shit list along with us.”

“Wonderful.” So either way, he was bound to get pulled in for questioning. And he was willing to bet the torture here was just as barbaric as back in Europe, or worse.

“Duo if I get called in for questioning, I don't want you coming with me.” He said. That way he wouldn't have to worry about fighting Duo's binding, and he could lie his ass off.

“Why would they take you in?” Duo asked indignantly.

“You've seen his coffin.” Trowa reminded him. “Quatre will drag him in for sure.” Then he turned to Heero. “I'll take him home, if we don't get called in to.”

A scowling , dark haired woman was approaching them. She was very pale and petite, with raven black hair covering her eye much like Trowa's human guise. She wore long, black robes that glittered dangerously and showed no trace of blood, even though she had been kneeling in it.

“I see you two were _entertaining_ him tonight.” Noin made her words into a slur. “I don't suppose its too much to ask if either of you noticed anything through all of your...mating.” She spat the word, and Trowa flinched.

Duo lifted his head off Duo's shoulder to stare at her. “One minute I was working, and next I was covered in blood. Ask anyone.”

“That's what _all_ of the witnesses have said.” Noin sneered.

“Maybe because it's _true_.” Duo Snapped back.

Noin sniffed. “perhaps if you were less of a whore-”

Trowa snarled at the accusation and stepped between Noin and Duo. He remained in his human form, but he bared a mouth full of sharp teeth, his eyes pure fury.

“Please.” Noin said dismissively. “I know you're out of magic, just like everyone else. Or were you _not_ getting screwed into that altar less then half an hour ago?”

A deep rumbling growl came from Trowa's throat, and Heero thought he might just try for Noin's neck, even without magic. Heero stood up and laid what he hoped was a calming hand on Trowa's shoulder. He set his sword point down into the floor in front of him, clearly displaying its glowing edges.

“Trowa might be out of magic, but I'm not. And unless I'm mistaken, you have no proof of any wrongdoing by either of them, and no authority to pull them in for questioning. I might even suggest that if your _master_ ,” Heero spat the word, “Wasn't such a perverted bastard, perhaps they wouldn't have even been here at all.”

Noin's eyes flashed at Heero's words, anger glittering in their depths. She flicked her gaze down to the sword for only a moment, before bringing it back up, to the burn scars on his arms and throat where the silver had bitten into this skin. She studied his eyes the longest, and Heero knew they were dark from his feeding.

“You must be Duo's new pet.” Noin practically purred. “Did you enjoy the third floor? Angelique is so good at getting willing humans to sate your carnal desires. And yet, vampires seem to think they are the only ones who may be afforded the privilege.”

Heero said nothing. It was obvious that those 'employed' here were participating with dubious consent at best, and the law for vampire was much stricter when it came to feeding off the unwilling. In Europe, the council enforced the law with an iron fist. Even a non-fatal feeding from an un-consenting mortal could be treated as rape, or attempted murder. As far as Heero could tell, Treize had never been punished for any of his carnal activities.

“Trowa, look after my sword.” Heero said, not breaking eye contact with Noin. No one could out-stare a vampire.

“Why? Where are you going?” Duo asked.

“Noin is arresting me. Aren't you.” He said, biting out the words.

She smiled an ugly smile and replied, “Of course.” Then she looked away discretely, breaking their staring match. She managed not to blink furiously, but did say, “I will need the sword, of course.”

“No, I think you'll need a warrant for that.” Heero said calmly. “Since there is no way that wound was caused by a sword There's too much blood and the spread is too great. A vampire would have ways of creating that wound however, so there is enough circumstantial evidence for you to arrest me, but not Duo or Trowa, seeing how any witness could tell you exactly where they were at the time of Treize's...demise.”

Noin's eyes narrowed. She was clearly used to getting her own way, regardless of law or regulation. “Well aren't you smart. Turn around.”

She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and ruthlessly cuffed his hands behind his back. Heero ground his teeth together as the silver burned into his wrists. Noin had tightened his cuffs much tier than necessary, and smirked at Heero's grimace of pain.

“Let's go. You can meet the other whore vampire, Zechs.”

Heero snarled as Noin shoved him in front of her. He looked back at Duo and Trowa. He sincerely hoped that Trowa could keep Duo away from wherever Noin was taking him. There was no mistaking that vindictive gleam in Noin's eyes. The interrogation would not be pretty.

He ignored the looks he got as he was escorted out. He knew he was going to be arrested,he had just simply hoped there would be a few more suspects. Not that he particularly wanted anyone else to be tortured, but it would help to have a little less attention focused on him. He hoped the blue haired bartender would tell him that he was at the bar when Treize was killed, but that wouldn’t get him off the hook. If Heero was the only suspect they might just execute him anyway. This was the same council that let Treize do whatever he wanted, after all.

Noin escorted him to a car which was already waiting out front. She shoved him into the back and pulled a block hood over his head. It was obviously spelled - it cut off his sight, hearing, smell and even his sense of taste. Heero had no idea where she was taking him.

He counted the seconds since the hood was place don him, and it took almost twenty minutes before they reached their destination. AT one point they crossed a bridge, because Heero felt the stomach wrenching ache that meant they had crossed powerful running water.

The hood stayed on even after they parked. Someone – presumably Noin – yanked him out of the car and into wherever they were heated. They walked for several hundred steps before Heero was led down stairs- probably into a dungeon. He felt more searing pain as something silver made contact with his ankle, and he flinched. His hands were un-cuffed, and Heero shook them to try to get feeling back into them. /the were cuffed back together in front of him with much bigger, heavier cuffs.

Noin finally yanked the hood off, and Heero's head reeled as his senses were restored all at once. The light blinded him, noise deafened him, the stench of the prison assaulted his nose, and he gagged on the tastes in the air.

By the time Heero's head cleared, Noin had shut the cell door, leaving him trapped in a five by five foot cell with no furnishings, not even straw on the floor, which was covered in a layer of grime that made Heero want to gag. There were no windows. The wall at his back was cement, as well as the floor, with binding spells woven in to it to keep supernatural strength from being an asset in escape. There were no facilities, not even a bucket; just a grate in the floor. The other walls and ceiling were barred for a complete and utter lack of privacy, the silver coating on them making Heero want to flatten himself up again the wall to get away from them.

Noin stood on the other side of the door, a dark, evil grin on her face. “Enjoy your stay. I'll be looking forward to watching your interrogation.”

Heero did his damnest not to look the least bit concerned with the fact that hew as in a dungeon, staring out at here with a cold, uncaring expression. She glared at him.

“We'll see if you can maintain that face when Solo gets his hands on you He's an expert torturer.” She stalked off.

Heero moved against the wall, grimacing in disgust at the state of the floor on his bare feet. He pulled his hands up to his mouth and bit into his thumb, since his wrists were encased in heavy silver manacles. It took more blood then he'd wanted, but his magic swept around the floor of the cell, scouring the grime from the cement and draining it away.

Heero sat down on the now sterile floor, and fought the urge to rub his aching wrists. He leaned back against the cement wall behind him, and closed his eyes, focusing inward. Since he was certain they would bleed all his magic during the interrogation, he set to work diligently building a layer of spells between his consciousness and his bond with Duo. He would need the bond to appear to function – to tug on him to get him to physically do whatever Duo asked, while giving him the freedom to choose if he wanted to obey or not – to be able to lie if they made Duo ask him about Treize. He'd be damned before he'd give the council a reason to execute him for something that should have been done a long time ago.

Heero came back to himself hours later, significantly lower on blood then when he'd begun. His head was pounding, and his wrists and ankle were on fire from the restraints. He shoved back the pain. There was someone else in the cell next to him now – another vampire. He was tall, blonde, carried the face of an European noble, and was extremely powerful.

He was talking to another man outside his cell. The other was an incubus – a full blooded one. The demon had cherry red skin, long black nails, huge horns curling gracefully out of his head like ram's horns, two full wings against his back, and eyes that were completely black with a bright yellow iris. Since he wasn't locked up, that had to be Solo, Duo's full-blooded Incubus brother.

“I'm sorry Zechs. I'll have you out of here as soon as I can.” Solo was saying. He had one hand through the bars, gripping Zechs shoulder.

“Noin knows I didn't do anything. We just got back, and the council already made me testify under your bond. Noin just wants to make us suffer.”

“They're not making me torture you, but I still have to bleed you out.” Solo swallowed and looked away guiltily. “When I get you out, I'll let you drink as much of my blood as you want.”

Zechs gave a dark laugh. “I've survived it before. Get it over with.”

Solo grimaced, and moved his hand up to Zechs neck. A quick swipe sliced Zechs' jugular, and blood shout out everywhere. Zechs used his magic to direct the stream of blood to the floor, where it drained into the grate. Zechs kept a straight face, but his hand spasmed, and he reached up to grip Solo's hand as his life drained away.

When every last drop of blood was gone, Zechs was pale and shaking. He lowered himself down to the ground and stared at Solo. “Shouldn't take long. Maybe a day? I still haven't healed from those Taurus demons.”

“Fucking council pieces of shit!” Solo swore. “Duo and I do everything for them, and who did they arrest? You and Duo's new vampire! Fucking bastards.” Solo ground out.

“Keep that up and you'll get us all killed.” Zechs warned. “Go do your job and leave me alone.”

Solo snarled, but he did as Zechs asked. He strode down the dungeon corridor, his nails clicking on the cement. He stopped in front of Heero's cell.

“You must be my brother's new vampire.” He said, glaring down at Heero. “Only Duo would be stupid enough to try to bond a vampire as strong as you. You're the one who murdered Treize, aren't you.”

Heero looked up at Solo's brother, gauging his expression. “And if I did?”

“Then normally I'd congratulate you.” Solo said. “But since I still work for the council, I'm merely going to suggest you find a way to keep that to yourself.”

Solo placed his hand over the lock, and then slid the door open. He reached down and hauled Heero to his feet by his hair.

“I'd say I won't enjoy torturing you...”Solo bared his teeth. “But that would be lying.”

Heero wasn't surprised. Solo was full-blooded demon, and had the dark desires and appetite for pain that went with his demonic nature. The only reason Duo wasn't the same was because of his human mother.

“Don't try anything stupid.” Solo warned. “I know Duo doesn't have you trained yet, but he's not a full-blooded incubus. Do not fuck with me.”

Heero thought he could probably take Solo easily, but not without his sword, and not without betraying how powerful he was. It would not help his case if he murdered his torturer as well. He still contemplated biting the incubus when he put his hand on Heero's face.

“My brother hasn't trained you at _all,_ has he.” Solo observed, noting Heero's murderous expression. “Hold still.”

He put his hand on the back of Heero's neck, and a flood of pleasure washed over Heero. He gasped, struggling to hold onto his anger, to his resolve, but they slipped away into the warm haze that settled over him. He couldn't resist Solo – he didn't want to any more. He wanted Solo, wanted them to fuck, wanted to do whatever the beautiful demon wanted him to.

Heero shook his head violently, trying to clear it. A very small part of him clung to his will, which was screaming at him that Solo was his _torturer_ damn it, so stop looking at him with those disgusting lovesick eyes.

“I'm sure you could work through my magic if you had time. But you'll be...otherwise engaged.” Solo stroked the side of Heero's face where stubble was beginning to grow. Heero snarled inwardly as his body shuddered and pushed into Solo's touch.

“Good boy.” Solo smirked. He waved his free hand at the chains, which popped open and clattered to the floor. Heero didn't even notice – they'd stopped hurting the moment Solo had touched him. “Come along then.”

Heero followed Solo into the hall, staring at him dreamily. The incubus wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. They walked past Zechs' cell and Heero just stared at him, thinking that the pale vampire would be so much happier if he'd just let Solo touch him.

“Christ Solo, laying it on thick enough?” The vampire said.

Heero didn't understand, but the vampire wasn't speaking to him. Solo answered, “You remember how hard your were to control when I first bonded you? He's worse. Why, are you jealous?”

The vampire scoffed, and pulled himself back into the corner of his call. “No. But Duo might be mad if he gets back a ruined vampire. You'll scour his mind if you keep that up.”

Solo's grin was nasty. “He won't be under the spell for very long. Breaking him will take some time, probably a few days I'll come get you while he's unconscious.”

Zechs turned his head away, and said nothing. This seemed to anger Solo. “Fine. Stay here and rot then.” Then, to Heero, “Let's go.”

They left the hallway and descended deeper underground. Heero thought he heard screaming coming from behind some of the doors, but he knew he had to be mistaken. The incubus wouldn't be doing anything to make him scream. Well, not like that anyways.

Solo opened one of the heavy oak doors and led Heero inside. There wasn't much in the room – a heavy wooden cross in the corner, with a binding circle around it, a stone fireplace set into the wall, with some metal pieces heating in it, and a small try with a variety of instruments on it. The tray held a circle wreath of garlic, silver and wooden stakes, a bottle of holy water, a silver guilted knife, and a few other bottles with labels Heero couldn't read.

Solo brought him around to the back of the cross where there were heavy silver manacles welded into it. Solo lifted Heero up and strapped his feet and arms in one-handed. Heero let him, a vacant smile on his face. It didn't hurt at all.

“Heero, look at the glass.” Solo directed.

Heero looked up at the dark, two-way glass that covered the wall in front of him. He could hear three heartbeats on the other side of the glass. Someone was watching them.

“Now, tell me. Did you kill Treize Kushrenada?”

Heero's brain searched towards the answer, and slid off the mental wall that he'd created to keep the info away from Duo. “No.” He answered with a smile. “But I would if you asked me to.”

“Hmmm. I was hoping you'd say that. It'd be no fun if you gave in that easily.”

Then Solo let go. Heero screamed as the pleasure in his body evaporated and the pain of being chained to a splintery wooden cross in silver spelled manacles crushed down on him. He screamed and thrashed until his nerves finally figured out that the overwhelming pleasure he'd been experiencing was not the normal state of being in his body. He ruthlessly detached part of his mind from his body, watching from a mental distance as his body thrashed around in agony for several minutes before he was able to get a grip and control his pain again.

As he hung there, gasping, Solo asked him again. “Did you kill Treize Kushrenada?”

“No.” He snarled.

Solo smiled. He picked up something from the tray behind Heero, and appeared in front of him, casually flipping a silver stake in his gloved hand. Then he stuck, burying it so deeply into Heero that he heard the thunk of it hitting the wood underneath him. He heard himself screaming in agony as his body convulsed around the wound, trying to protect itself. He studied the scream clinically from where he'd burrowed his consciousness and judged whether or not it would break him. It wouldn't.

“Did you kill Treize Kushrenada?”

“ **No.** ”

The interrogation continued for hours, until eventually he could not contain the pain inside of himself any more, and blacked out.

**3 days later...**

A bucket of ice water revived Heero from the latest bout of unconsciousness. He ignored the moans of pain his body indulged in, and focused his remaining senses on his surroundings. Solo had blinded him on the second day of interrogations, and he couldn't smell anything but garlic from the wreath around his neck. His mouth tasted like blood and rot from the holy water Solo had forced down his throat, and his nerves were on fire from being forced to feel pleasure past his pain over and over.

Only his hearing remained intact, and he focused on the sounds of Solo's breathing, his feet on the floor, listening for the sound of whatever torture device he would use next. When he didn't hear anything, he thought that Solo must have done something to his ears as well. But he could hear the incubus breathing, hear his heartbeat. He could also hear the twelve heartbeats on the other side of the glass.

_'Wait – twelve heartbeats?'_

The requirement to watch an interrogation was three council members. Solo had explained sometime over the last three days, and there had never been more then six watchers any time Heero had been conscious. They were all here now.

“Lords and Ladies of the Council.” Solo began, addressing the council through the glass. “It is my professional opinion that Heero Yuy be released into the care of his master, Duo Maxwell, and declared innocent of all charges pending further investigation. Unless you wish to enforce the death penalty, there is nothing more I can do to force a confession from him.”

Heero couldn't hear them speaking through the glass, but Solo seemed to be waiting for them to come to a decision. He shifted his weight, and his nails clicked impatiently against the cement. After some time, there was a sound Heero didn't recognize, and then he heard Quatre's voice.

“The council has voted, and we have reached a decision. For now, the vampire will be released into Duo Maxwell's custody. If further evidence should be discovered, we retain the right to bring him in for further questioning. When their bond is stronger, the Council will require proof of their joining under the blood pact.”

“Of course, my lord.” Solo agreed.

Heero heard that sound again, and then Quatre's voice was absent. The sound must have had something to do with the spell on the glass. He felt Solo's hands on him now, and he snarled, flinching away from the incubus' touch when he felt the warm glow flooding his veins again.

“Stop that.” Solo snapped. “I just saved your life. Besides, you're never going to be able to walk out of here on broken legs unless I do this. I'm taking you out of here and back to Duo.”

Heero bared his teeth in Solo's general direction, but he knew the incubus was right. He could hardly move at this point; walking was out of the question. He didn't fight as Solo unchained him and helped him down to the floor. He heard Solo open the oak door, and then there was the unmistakable sound of Duo.

“Heero!” Duo's cried. He ripped Heero out of Solo's arms, and Heero screamed as Solo's magic left him and his wounds made themselves known.

“Don't do that Duo! Fuck!” Solo touched his back again, and Heero heard himself sobbing in relief. Bodies were so weak. “His injuries are severe.”

“I can see that.” Duo spat. “I can pain block too, you know. Don't you think you've done enough?!” He smoothed Heero's hair, and Heero felt pleasure flowing into him from Duo's fingers.

Solo sounded angry. “It's my job Duo.”

“Well sometimes I hate your job. Now leave us alone. Don't you have your own vampire to take care of?” Duo snarled. “I'm taking you home Heero.

Heero laid back against Duo's chest and let the incubus carry him, feeling Duo's long fingers in his hair. Home. He liked the sound of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and encouragement are always welcome, and might actually help me finish this fic!!


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